Checklist For Launching Your Web Site
 By Alex R. Merriman

Your holiday list isn’t the only one you should making and checking twice.

If you want to launch a Web site for your small business in 2005, here’s a checklist to help you start planning. By answering these questions, you’ll see the big picture about starting and maintaining your site. You’ll also see some potential pitfalls.

Be as realistic as you can when answering these questions. If you don’t know the answer to a question, do some research. Plan, plan, plan before you launch a Web site. That’s the only way you’ll save yourself time, money and hassles.

Web site objectives
What do you want your Web site to accomplish? Do you want to sell products online? Do you want to drive potential customers to your storefront? Do you want to generate leads for selling your services?

Who will use your Web site? Customers who want to purchase? Potential clients looking for information about your services? Suppliers?

What capabilities does your Web site need to serve visitors? Do you need e-commerce capabilities for customers who want to purchase online? Do you want message boards or live chat to create community? Will your Web site need audio or video? Will you need an online catalog?

How many visitors do you expect to come to your Web site each day, each week, each month?

How many sales do you expect from your Web site? How much revenue do you expect your Web site to generate?

How many leads do you expect from your Web site? How many of those leads do you expect to convert to sales? What’s the dollar volume those sales will generate?

Will you accept advertising on your site? How much money will that advertising generate and who will sell the advertising for you?

Web site costs
Who will design your site, and how much will it cost?

Who will host your site, and how much will it cost?

Who will update your site? How often will you need updates, and what will those updates cost?

Who will provide graphics and content? How much will it cost?

How will you promote your site? How much will it cost to promote and advertise your site?

If you host your small-business Web site, will you need to invest in new technology, such as computers, servers and software? How much will that cost initially and over the next five years?

Other considerations
Will you need to hire employees to manage the day-to-day operations of your Web site?

Will you need to hire employees to handle incoming customer calls generated by your Web site?

If you sell products on your Web site, will you need to keep extra inventory on hand? How much will it cost you to maintain the necessary inventory level? Where will you store the additional inventory?

If you sell online, who will perform order fulfillment and shipping duties? Will you need to hire employees? Will you outsource the chore to a fulfillment house?

If your Web site is a smashing success, are you prepared to handle the additional work? If new customers come calling for your services, can you deliver?

Will launching and paying for a Web site siphon funds and time from your core business? Can you afford the tradeoff? Will other areas of your small business suffer?

The bottom line
How many sales and/or leads will you need to cover the cost of your Web site? Be realistic. Look at all of the Web site startup and ongoing costs, including the expenses of having to hire employees.

How much profit will your Web site generate for your small business? Again, be realistic.

Is the profit you expect from your Web site enough to justify the money, time and energy you’ll have to devote to the project?

How long will it take your Web site to reach its potential in sales, leads, revenues and profits?

Even if your Web site is a breakeven proposition, your small business may still need a site to stay competitive. Do your competitors have Web sites? Have customers asked for your Web site address? Are you losing sales because you don’t have a Web site?

(Posted December 2004)

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