Read part 1 of The Website Challenge

Are the characteristics and status of companies always compatible with their internet presence?

Phil Page, Managing Director, Compass Contract Hire: “In our industry there are no barriers to entry on the internet. So we’ve now got the bedroom-based brokers who can have a well designed website and can steal the market in the credit crunch. We’ve invested in buying our own premises and in staff who can deliver the service our customers expect, but someone can work from home and if they’ve got £10,000 to spend they can have a website that looks the part, or even better than ours; their website is probably their biggest overhead.”

Felix Bolger, Managing Director, Homelodge Buildings: “My perception of a company I come across for the first time on the internet is certainly affected by their website presence; and I’ve even found website designers with terrible websites! You just click away from them. The web has lowered the barrier to entry. It took us ten years to get a foothold with local councils who can use our buildings as schools, for example. Now they might see a competitor who hasn’t got our experience but has a good web presence. But actually, we have a history; we can validate our position and have a gallery of photos to show that. Clients want to see what you’ve already done. We’re very careful about what we put on the website in term of plans, designs and prices – especially for the commercial market – as I’m wary of giving competitors too much information.”

Richard Sawney, Finance Director, Micheldever Tyre Services: “It’s interesting isn’t it – you want to be reassured that the people you are dealing with will actually deliver, and I always get a sense of satisfaction from seeing Amazon’s massive warehouses on the A1! But on the internet, people don’t even have to have their own stock. There will be companies out there with websites selling tyres, which are then ordering their stock from us! I always want to be at the front, not following the crowd, so we want a website that reflects that. I think we do need to look at the site again though and make sure that it projects our size and our success as a company. There needs to be a corporate page that will allow us to shout about the fact that we’re a Sunday Times Fast Track Growth company and that we’ve gone from a turnover of £70million to £290million.”

Rick Munro, Partner, Lamport Bassitt: “Some firms will invest disproportionately in their websites because it’s a way of being able to compete on a higher level. It’s probably easier to do that when you’re in the business of selling widgets though. I’ve fallen victim to that myself already. I bought something from an impressive looking website but it turned out to be faulty. When I tried to return it, it became clear this was an outfit run by a man and his dog.”

Louise Moir, Head of Marketing, Haskins Garden Centres: “A website needs to express the personality of your company, not the designer’s. You can easily find some very long-established companies who aren’t focusing on their website presence. That can sometimes be a strategic decision, but often it’s because a company has a different agency designing their website to the one designing their other marketing materials and it ends up with strengths in one area more than another. It’s ironic because websites should help to widen people’s perception of what the company does.”

Ross Breckenridge, Director, B&V Digital: “The internet means you can define your true size and strength, to make sure that a competitor’s emperor’s clothes are seen for what they are. You can set out your USPs, show your premises and facilities, have separate buttons for specific disciplines with the CVs of the people responsible for them; you can set out their individual experience and track-record. Just because the entry level is the same for any company with a website, it doesn’t mean the content has to be. What it means though is that you’ve got to think through what sets you apart from the competition.”

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Read part 3 of The Website Challenge