Posted: 16th Feb, 2004 By: MarkJ
BT's Business Broadband product portfolio has been further enhanced today by the introduction of
BT Website Creator. As if you couldn't guess, it's a tool that aids in the creation and development of business websites:
SMALL BUSINESSES power online presence with DIY tool
Small UK businesses are draining thousands of pounds of strategic funds on website development in a bid to strike online gold, according to research.
Over half (56%) of businesses polled by NOP* for BT Business Broadband admitted to using an external consultant to build their company's website, often at a cost of several thousand pounds. In addition, 16% said they spent between £1,000 and £5,000 on creating and maintaining the site, while 3% ploughed more than £5,000 into it.
The figures were revealed as BT Business Broadband launched BT Website Creator. Created for SMEs to save money on website development and maintenance costs, the tool provides them with all they need to build, maintain and expand their own professional website. Users do not require specialist skills or additional software.
Website Creator is available to existing and new customers as part of the Internet Business Pack, from a cost of just £10 per month.
According to NOP, 43% of SMEs continue to outsource the maintenance of the site to a third party after its creation.
"Eighteen months ago, creating a website was a very difficult activity," said Neville Manuel, director of value added services at BT Business Broadband. "Most businesses were reliant upon a specialist third party to get the job done. Nowadays, there is a real opportunity for SMEs to do it themselves, and to a very high standard. With BT Website Creator you no longer need to be technically minded to build or maintain your website, and you can do it from only £10 per month. This makes is easier for technology to improve the way the business is run, while allowing it to focus on core operations."
The BT Website Creator is a portal-based tool, offering over 200 website templates for SMEs to use and customise. An unlimited number of pages can be created. The tool is compatible with Internet Business Pack - Shop and Internet Business Pack - Online Payment, allowing online catalogue and payment functions to be added. The software was developed in conjunction with US Hosting group, Interland.
"Whether businesses simply need an online business card, or a more complex site for taking orders, the BT Website Creator can do this for next to nothing," Manuel continued. "Users can also update the site as often as they want, which is critical if they want to keep business coming back time and time again. What is more, companies can save significantly with this piece of software, impacting positively on the bottom line. And for a tightly-run small business, that's where it really counts."
For further details, please visit http://www.btbroadbandoffice.com/ibp.
Full terms and conditions are available at: http://www.btbroadbandoffice.com/broadband/terms_busi.html
* NOP World survey of 200 companies, 'Web Site Building Tools', 2003