I have spoken with small companies and nonprofits that feel developing an online presence is just more work than it is worth.  While I would agree that online isn’t the right line for everyone, chances are very high that developing an online presence is a very wise choice for your organization.  To see why, let’s look at the primary benefits and a few important caveats.

The Benefits of Online Movement Building

Wide reach - The internet offers a much wider reach than other mediums.  People around the world (as well as within your target market) will suddenly have information on your organization at their fingertips.  Scope and wide reach are some of the most powerful arguments in favor of including an online component in your movement building.

Low cost - Equally important is the relatively low cost for developing such an extensive reach.  Today you can have a professional looking informational website created in a single day for only a few hundred dollars.  This is a tiny price tag for the extensive reach that having a website offers.

Automated - While you may not always have someone in your office to answer the phone, your website will always be available.  Just as importantly, your website can provide detailed information to one or one thousand people each day without requiring any extra expenditure from you.  Master Card could easily tout, “Creating a website: $300.  Freeing up staff time: Priceless.”

The Caveats

Some audiences aren’t online - Just as in traditional offline marketing, your organization will still have a specific target market that you need to reach.  If your target audience does not have internet access — such as the homeless, for example — then an online presence will not be effective.

Marketing not included - If you open a new company but tell no one about it, you will have very few sales.  Similarly, if you set up an amazing website but tell no one, you will have very few visitors.  Developing a strong online presence requires much more than simply establishing a website — you will need to do the appropriate online outreach, as well as committing to list your organization’s website on all offline promotional materials.

The Final Verdict

The low cost for the extensive reach makes building a website an easy choice for most small businesses and nonprofits.  The more difficult question is how to fully capitalize on your investment once the website is up and running.  Optimizing your site for search engines, effectively marketing your site online through blogs, news, and links, and establishing your website as a core part of offline marketing efforts all play an essential role.  We will address each of these in future articles.  In the meantime, drop in the comments below any relevant experiences you have had with website development.