Firms urged to make the most of their website

11:26 23rd September 2009

Businesses in the north-west of England could be missing out on opportunities by not making the most of their website, according to one firm.

Web hosting provider Hostway claims that businesses are "lax" at measuring such returns.

The organisation cited recent research by Fasthosts Internet, which found that 77 per cent of firms fail to measure any "return on investment" which their website generates for the business.

One in four respondents said they did not believe their website had potential as a sales channel while 40 per cent did not use data to assess if their internet presence is supporting their overall business goals.

Phil Turnbull, product manager at Hostway, said it was a "common misconception" among businesses that it "doesn't matter what your website looks like".

"Having a useable, informative website offers individuals and organisations the ability to offer a window to the world on what they do, so that people can find the information, tools and services they are looking for quickly and easily," he added.

The expert stated that evidence points to a website being a "key enabler and channel" that the public expects to be able to use to find and interact with businesses.

A recent dotCommerce league table of the best brand e-commerce sites saw Marks and Spencer taking the top spot and John Lewis following in second place.

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