Website Design

So should your business have a website?

Even if your business is small and sells products or services you don't think can be sold online?

Our answer: Yes, if you have a business, you should have a website. Period. No question. Without a doubt.

Also, don't be so quick to dismiss your product as one that can't be sold online. Nowadays, there's very little that can't be sold over the internet. More than 20 million shoppers are now online, purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to houses to jet airplanes to natural gas to you name it. If you can imagine it, someone will figure out how to sell it online.  It's not just products these people are buying, it's services too.  Many people, especially expats looking for an English speaking service use the internet to find them.  Your aren't going to search through the pages jaune (French equivalent of the Yellow Pages) for a mobile hairdresser with an English sounding name when you could simply search on Google for an "English Mobile Hairdresser in Creuse" and you will find - Lisa Mobile Hairdresser.

Let me clarify one point: I'm not saying you should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the internet, though if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you should certainly be considering it. The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the web so that other expats, customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.

That said, it's not enough that you just have a website. You must have a professional-looking site if you want to be taken seriously. Since many consumers now search for information online prior to making a purchase at a brick-and-mortar store, your site may be the first chance you have at making a good impression on a potential buyer. If your site looks like it was designed by a creche, your chance at making a good first impression will be lost.

One of the great things about the internet is that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to competing with the big boys. As mentioned, you have one shot at making a good first impression. With a well-designed site, your little operation can project the image and professionalism of a much larger company. The inverse is also true. I've seen many big company websites that were so badly designed and hard to navigate that they completely lacked professionalism and credibility. Good for you, too bad for them.

If like most local businesses, yours is a small operation, when it comes to benefiting from a website, size does not matter. I don't care if you're a one-man show or a 10,000-employee corporate giant; if you don't have a website, you're losing business to other companies that do.

There is only one exception to this rule: It's actually better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad. Your site speaks volumes about your business and your credibility. It either says, "Hey, look, we take our business so seriously that we have created this wonderful site for our customers!" or it screams, "Hey, look, I let my 10-year-old grandson design my site. Good luck finding anything!"

Your website is an important part of your business. Make sure you treat it as such.

At France PC Support we are very proud of the websites we have created.  You can take a look at some of them in our Website Portfolio.  All of the owners of these website have given their permission to be contacted should you wish to find out more information on our quality of service or working style.  These are real-life websites, that our clients use for their businesses.  From authors, online shops, estate agents and obviously ourselves.

Once your site is designed and portrays the message you want to get across in an attractive manner, the second half of the battle begins. 

So you have your website, it demonstrates you and your business perfectly, but it's sitting on page 5 of google nestled amongst other non relevant websites.  By effective use of keywords and optimizing your site we aim to get you on the first page of the search engines - THAT'S where the potential customers look, and THAT'S where they will find the website that they will use.  If you already have a website designed by yourselves or someone else, then not to worry.  We can apply these same techniques in getting any website higher up in the rankings of search engines.  Don't believe us?  Simply visit Google and search for terms like "PC Support in France", "Wooden homes in Creuse", "build a wooden home in creuse", "classical french car parts", "english builder in creuse", "english mobile hairdresser in creuse".... the list goes on.

For any more information please do not hesitate to contact us, visit our portfolio of sites or our other Design, Hosting and Optimization Site below.