Using Websites As Online Business Cards

Far too many websites are built without focusing on what they will actually be used for. In many cases people create websites that are actually more like an online business card than a functional website. So what makes a website an online business card?

The key element that defines a website as an online business card is that it isn't set up to take advantage of the search engines. The goal of the website is to showcase what the people behind it have to offer - not to attract new people. This means people first need to know about the people behind the website before they will ever see the website itself.

Another major flaw with using a website as an online business card is that they are often laid out as one long page - instead of multiple smaller pages. This means that the website will take longer to load, will be ignored by the search engines, and any relevance the website might have will be too low to be usable.

It's also important to note that most people don't scroll down long pages. They will only look at the part that they can see when the page loads and leave it at that. So even though the online business card has a lot of information the majority of people will likely not see any of it.

If the end goal is to just show things to your family and friends, having a website work as on online business card is a fine option. If you want to actually show people what you have to offer, then it's not a good option at all. As with all good website design, you want to have multiple pages that each focus on a specific topic. You want each of those pages to load quickly and tell people instantly why they should look at the whole page - not just the beginning.

Even if the goal of your website is to be on online business card it should still be built as a fully functional website. That way people will actually be able to use it, they will actually want to use it, and it will give you room to grow later on. Even if you don't take advantage of the search engines, having things set up properly also conveys a degree of professionalism - something lost with an online business card.