If at the bare minimum you have an email address, then the answer to the above question is probably yes. However, the more important question is: "How effective is your level of communication with your customers online?" In the past, a business could operate without a website and see no real tangible detriment to their business, but these days, consumers and businesses are so immersed in the Internet that a lack of website can directly result in less (or lost!) business. Consider this scenario: you are aware of four different businesses, and three of them have provided you with a wealth of information about their business, their previous clients, a map to their location, and much more. However, the 4th business has only given you a phone number and an address. Which businesses would you contact first? If your business doesn't have a website, you are that 4th business. If you're already established, you'll continue to get business through your branding and referrals, but you're losing access to a significant amount of new customers.

However, simply throwing a website up on the Internet isn't enough these days. You need to carefully consider the construction of the content displayed on your site to ensure you're effectively communicating the message you want to your customers. For example, if you load the homepage of your website, does it display the following information above the fold (without scrolling)?:

1. The most important information about your products or services that you want any customer coming to your site to know about

2. The common information that customers are looking for when they come to your website (like contact information, your location if it's relevant, and so on)

3. Any specials or promotions you're currently running

4. Snippets of testimonials from satisfied customers you've previously done business with

Many times people won't move beyond the homepage of your site, so at the very least you need to make sure they see the most important information pertaining to your business immediately so that you can a) hopefully entice them into investigating your business further or b) at the very least make sure they've seen what's most important about your business before they've left your website.

Providing your customers with information about your business - and the methods available to contact you - is communication online at a very basic level, the bare minimum to ensure your business is competitive in today's Internet-enabled world. In the next post, we'll discuss how you can take communication with your customers to the next level.