Your Web Site is Your Public Face - What is it Saying About You?

Let's face it -- if you're operating a business these days, people expect to find you on the Internet. And very likely, they will form first impressions of you, your company and your offerings from what they find on the web.

I'm always surprised when I run across small businesses or solo consultants who don't have a web site or one that is hopelessly out-of-date. Come on, people! How hard is to it put up a blog-based web site that's clean, simple and easy to navigate? Or at least a simple one-page landing page with your name, some art and contact info?

Then there are the big players, consumer brands that send powerful and sophisticated messages. What do their initial web pages say about who they are?

The Sunday New York Times took a look at the web sites of some brands in the news, including Toyota and Maclaren, the stroller-maker. For, as the Times said:

A company shows anxiety on its face — that is, on its Web site, which has become the face of the modern corporation. Visit sites for recently troubled or confused enterprises, including Maclaren, Toyota, Playtex, Tylenol and, yes, John Edwards, and you’ll find a range of digital ways of dealing with distress.

Here's their conclusion:

There’s a lesson in this tour. Web sites should update or shut down; the ones that hang around collecting cobwebs have an almost frightening, hollow-eyed quality. If your plans change, you should note the revision publicly, and manifest confidence online. If you hit a losing streak or your plans crumble, as did the plans announced on JohnEdwards.com, you should close up Web shop as soon as possible — and maybe keep to yourself for a while.

I don't agree about this last point. John Edwards needs to have a public presence on the web, but I agree, it should be short and to the point: Here's me, I'm still out here, here a sentence or two about what I'm doing, and here's how you can contact me (some generic contact info).