No Website? Really? Automation, Low Costs & Simplicity Mean No Excuse for No Website

From the June 2010 Issue

[If you've already read the part of this column that appeared in our June print issue, you can click here to jump to the bonus online content.]

It is the nature of my work that I spend virtually all of the business day online, and usually a few more hours when I’m not at work. So it’s probably not surprising that while researching the latest accounting and business technologies, taking note of tax law changes, and collaborating with tax and accounting professionals, I see a lot of websites for accounting and tax practices.

One of the most amazing things, however, is that according to our 2010 Readers’ Survey, about 50 percent of small practices claim not to have a website at all. There are different reasons, of course, but quite often these smaller practitioners just don’t see the direct ROI or benefit from a website, especially if they are the person who has to maintain it. If you’re in the 50 percent group who currently does not have a website, I’m probably not going to get you to convert. But you should at least keep this in mind: When you’re in your office or at home and you want to look up the telephone number for a business, do you go first to a phonebook or first to your computer? If your answer is the computer, you should have just convinced yourself of the need for at least a basic website.

You probably won’t find strict definitions of basic and advanced websites, but I categorize them based on the amount of content/pages on the site as well as how often it is updated and whether it offers tools and resources that might cause a website visitor to return.

At the most basic level, a website should offer a little about the professional practice, such as services offered, a short bio on key staff and contact information. This is pretty basic stuff and can be done at a cost of less than $100 per year. Many vendors of professional tax and accounting products offer “website builder” tools either free or inexpensively to their customers, and there are also several accountant-focused and general business website development systems out there that are inexpensive and easy to use. Some are all-inclusive of the name and the hosting, which are the two key components of getting a website online.

A Domain Name:
www.youraccountingfirm.com is an example of a primary domain address. This is bought/registered on an annual basis through domain “registrars” like Network Solutions, GoDaddy, WestHost and others, and can be prepaid for multiple years, with prices starting around $20 if paying for only one year at a time. As an alternative, some website building systems will give you a web address that adds onto another address, such as www.techvendor.com/youraccountingfirm. These are not nearly as memorable, professional or effective for marketing your firm, but they are better than nothing. These domains are usually free and are worth what you pay for them.

Web Hosting:
Where the domain name is similar to creating an entity, it doesn’t really do anything other than buy a name. The next step is to get hosting, which is essentially renting space on an Internet server. You’ll find a lot of web hosts out there, too, including most registration companies. You can buy from one and host on another, but for most small businesses it may be easier to keep them together. Web hosting costs also vary on how far in advance you want to prepay, as well as the expected traffic volume to the website. For most accounting practices, a general small business hosting package will cost around $10 to $40 per month, but can sometimes be found a little lower with prepayment of a year or two. Hosting packages also usually include several email addresses for your domain name, such as yourname@your accountingfirm.com, info@youraccountingfirm.com or other options.