"Professional Web Site" - Not when your nephew builds it

I find it hard to understand the thinking of businesses these days when it comes to their web sites.

I have had this discussion with many a landscaper in a popular message board about it. These business owners are doing their best each and every day to portray a professional image, but when it comes to building a web site, they turn it over to their nephew in high school.

Imagine being a landscape design firm, and having a poorly designed web site. Happens all the time.

There is new data out today that has some real numbers on the influence of web sites on consumers. My friend Peter Krasilovsky summerized the Neilson Net Ratings study for WebVisible in his blog titled "Local Onliner".

Here is the part that stood out to me about web sites:

Website quality also played a significant factor in attracting local commerce. Eighty-five percent of respondents agreed that the quality of a business owner’s website is an important factor in earning the consumer’s trust. Over 75 percent of respondents said they were more likely to make a purchase from “an unfamiliar business with a quality website,” than “a poor website from a known business.”

We recently built a site that took the client from amateur to professional. It is pretty sharp.

If you have not hired a professional to build your web site, you need to do it, starting now, because your customers are making the "first impression" decision about you based on the quality of your web site.

Steve