by Trevor Zion Bauknight

Like most Americans I know, I spent a bit of time this past weekend paying attention to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I went to the ESPN and Yahoo! Sports sites to fill out my brackets and throw in with a group of friends for bragging rights. And like many Americans I know, my interest in the Tournament waned significantly as soon as the team I picked to Win It All lost (thanks a lot, Georgia Tech!).

Along the way, I read something funny written by one of the other guys in our group. "Where do I find the picks I made to see how I'm doing? It's like going to some company's website and spending 30 minutes looking for their address." It's sad, but true. Some sites are so busy, confusing or dysfunctional that it's ridiculously difficult to start at the top and find what should be easy to find.

But going beyond site-design considerations, it's important to know why you have a website in the first place. For small businesses and home-based businesses, there isn't much need for database-based e-commerce sites connected to merchant accounts and so on. Granted, some people may wish to sell their creations online; but most people turn to tools like eBay and PayPal to accomplish this on a small scale.

Most small businesses will treat their websites as another way to advertise and will take advantage of the inherent interconnectedness of the Web to do so-called "viral" marketing, spreading awareness by exchanging links, making their sites visible to search engines through the artful use of meta tags and maybe even submission services, etc. But the best way to generate interest in your site is by providing something people want, whether it's useful information, worthwhile services or unique goods.

Let's look at some examples of why different breeds of entrepreneurs would want to establish and maintain an online identity:

Independent professionals like attorneys, CPAs, architects and so on need websites to introduce new clients to their services, to provide contact information, directions, portfolios, etc. online and even to distribute official documents like contracts and forms.

Creative professionals, in particular, especially need a web presence because it is an ideal format for displaying and distributing examples of their work. Artists and musicians can put their entire catalogs online and have visitors download images or MP3s. My cousins' band, Blueground Undergrass, cultivated its following almost exclusively online by simply announcing the website address at their shows and providing tour dates, photos, biographical information and, eventually, entire concert recordings through that outlet.

Service providers can make worthwhile use of their websites. One of our favorite customers here at Cafe ID (http://www.cafeid.com) operates a home and business cleaning service that makes exclusive use of organic and natural cleaning products for people who suffer from allergies or are simply environmentally conscious consumers. But in addition to her contact and pricing information, she provides weekly tips for avoiding toxic and harmful cleaning products and practices as well as links to like-minded organizations. Check out http://www.organicmaid.com for an example of a home-based business website that itself has grown organically without an advertising budget, without spamming and without a great deal of effort.

Churches and charitable organizations aren't exactly small businesses, but they're often saddled with the same kinds of restrictions -- small budgets, small staffs and a need to be more agile than large companies can be in providing and refining information -- that impact small-business. Websites are ideal conduits for constantly-changing information like event schedules, contact information, etc. that are beyond the ability of small-business to address through traditional media advertising.

eBay has become far more than an auction site in its short, sweet life, and many small business owners conduct their sales businesses exclusively through the eBay Stores structure. A dedicated website outside that structure, however, can give the owner a more professional appearance when combined with a unique domain name and a set of e-mail addresses associated with that domain. Even if you only use it as a front-end to link to an eBay Store, it's still a better place to start than at the top of the vast eBay site.

Owners of brick-and-mortar shops find that building lasting relationships with their customers is easier when they maintain a mailing list of customers who voluntarily sign up and a website that announces new goings-on. My favorite shop in Charleston, Indigo (http://www.charlestonsfinest.com/sc/indigohome.html) maintains its mailing list and online store and even features a webcam to let you visit them when you're not lucky enough to be in the Holy City.

It doesn't really matter what kind of small-business or home-based business owner you are. An online identity befitting your business is not hard to build, and making effective use of the inherent benefits of the Web gives you the ability to market your business in ways that simply aren't available anywhere else for anywhere close to the same money.

Look for the second part of this article next week, when we'll go a bit further into the nuts and bolts of "how?" now that you know "why?" Homework: Look at some small-business websites you already know and think about how you could apply some of the same know-how to the improvement of your own business.

About the Author

Trevor Zion Bauknight is a web designer and writer with over 15 years of experience on the Internet. He works with Cafe ID and specializes in the creation and maintenance of business and personal Online Identity and can be reached at trevor@cafeid.com.