| Whether you run a restaurant, espresso cafe, hotel, or | | | | from their computer. |
| inn, having a website is becoming an essential part of | | | | - Information about what your business provides. |
| doing business in the 21st century. Think of a web | | | | Describe your menu, your suites, your services |
| page as a virtual storefront - another way for your | | | | offered, and so on. If you're thinking of it like a |
| potential customers to discover and interact with your | | | | magazine ad or brochure, you're thinking in the right |
| business. | | | | track. |
| Where to get it | | | | - Images! At the very least, have a few pictures of |
| Probably your best bet is to hire a freelancer online. | | | | your most sumptuous meal offerings or your |
| Freelancer's websites such as RentACoder.com, | | | | ambassador suites at their best-looking. The web is a |
| Elance.com, and work like a community job board: post | | | | visual medium, so having pictures of the best you have |
| your job ("looking for a web designer to build a web | | | | to offer is crucial. Hire a professional photographer and |
| site for our restaurant"), watch the bids roll in, pick | | | | schedule a day for this event; spare no expense. |
| somebody whose price is right and whom seems | | | | - "About us"... most hospitality sites have a separate |
| equal to the task, put the money up with the site, and | | | | page detailing the business' commitment to quality, |
| collect your work. The average going rate for a | | | | excellence of service, awards won, testimonials from |
| custom site is anywhere form $200 to $1000 dollars. | | | | customers, rave reviews from critics, etc. |
| If you decide to do the design yourself, most web | | | | Design |
| hosting providers include some website building tools to | | | | Because a service business in expected to have a |
| get you started. You don't need to be a 'geek' to get | | | | little flash to dress it up, you can go a little further with |
| started with building a web page, as today's tools are | | | | the graphics than what you would normally find on a |
| usually "what you see is what you get". If you can use | | | | web page. By all means have everything look as good |
| office software, you can build web pages. Many hosts | | | | as possible. Your page should be harmonious with your |
| also provide easy-to-use templates, which are like | | | | business's style and motif. |
| "skeleton pages" that you just drop in and fill with your | | | | However, avoid the temptation to post a Flash |
| content. | | | | animation as your website's entry page. Flash |
| The only downside of doing it yourself is that good | | | | animations take time and processing to download, and |
| web design is a matter of artistic talent, not technical | | | | a guest who's been here three times and just wants |
| skill. It's up to you to decide if you can bring this job | | | | to quickly reserve a room wants to get on with the |
| home. Visit the websites of other businesses in your | | | | transaction. Flash movies are certainly impressive, but |
| industry and compare - can you make it look that | | | | at the most they should be small side items on your |
| good? You can also just put up the basic framework | | | | business's front page. Also, make sure that the Flash |
| of your site, then hire freelancers for smaller jobs like | | | | animation doesn't start automatically, make it so the |
| adding graphics artwork. A common strategy is also to | | | | user can start it at will with a click or mouse-over. |
| toss out the basic site content without decoration, then | | | | When we say you can go a little further with design |
| hire a designer to go over it and spruce it up. | | | | spice than the average page, we mean tasteful and |
| Logistics | | | | not gaudy. Avoid too much dark color, which will make |
| When picking a web host provider, your needs will be | | | | the pages difficult to read. Avoid too much white |
| very basic. Since the front page for your hospitality | | | | space, which will make the page seem too plain. The |
| business won't need nearly the bandwidth that a 'big | | | | text any any given page should be descriptive of your |
| name' website will have, you can usually pick the | | | | services, but not go on at a legth greater than what |
| cheapest package with no problem. Web space today | | | | you would find on a single page of a news magazine. |
| is so cheap, it's almost free; packages are out there | | | | You should be able to scan the whole site in about 20 |
| for as little as $5.00 / month with an annual domain | | | | minutes. |
| registration fee of $15.00 or so. Compared to | | | | Usability |
| newspaper ads and even Yellow Pages advertising, a | | | | The designated guru of web site usability is Vincent |
| web site will be the most economical publicity for your | | | | Flanders. His website is called " (Alexa) and while he's |
| business you ever had. | | | | a little on the crude side, his site is chock-full of wisdom |
| Functions | | | | for the business starting out to make a web presence. |
| At the very least, your business website should have | | | | Just browse through his list of "top ten mistakes" and |
| the following features: | | | | check to make sure you're not making any of them. If |
| - Locations and hours. The easier it is to find this | | | | you can pass this simple test, you're doing better than |
| information, the less your staff will have to answer that | | | | almost half the Internet already! |
| question over the phone. | | | | Lots of web design for the online part of a business is |
| - A way to make reservations. The reservations | | | | common sense. Your site should be easy to navigate, |
| registry process should be simple to use, and all on | | | | with clear and descriptive links telling the user where |
| one page. Whether booking a table, a room, or a | | | | they're going. A rule of thumb is that no page of your |
| dance hall, the process should be consistent and | | | | site should be more than two clicks away from any |
| convenient. | | | | other page of your site. The average web site for a |
| - If you have any kind of delivery service, by all means | | | | hospitality business should be no more than ten pages |
| set the site up to take orders over the Internet. Internet | | | | total, for the basic necessities outlined here. |
| users love being able to summon a pizza delivery right | | | | |