The number of Americans who use the Internet surpassed the 70% mark more than two years ago, and of those Americans a vast majority considered the Internet as their most important source of information surpassing books, newspapers, television, radio and magazines.

What have you done in the last two years to keep up?

It’s just part of the daily routine, simply go online, and type “Hair Salon” into the most convenient search engine. Today, users don’t even have to specify a particular city. The search engines make a guess based on the Internet address of your service provider.

The result is usually a list of the nearest salons, shown on a map, and in some cases, with customer reviews and ratings of the salons. If you need new customers, and you’re not in that list, you are losing the most cost-effective marketing tool on the planet.

At the least, your Web site must provide some key information that any user is looking for:

• Address & Directions. Don’t bury this key information: If a user lands on your site, chances are they are interested, if not already sold. Either have a clearly labeled “location” tab or link, or have the address and phone number on the homepage.

• Hours of Operations. Salons have some of the oddest hours of mainstream businesses. Some are open on Mondays, many are not. Some don’t even open until Wednesday. Sunday is a toss. Don’t let visitors to your site guess. Certainly don’t rely on them calling the salon to find out: It may be hard for them to call from work, or at 11pm when there won’t be anyone to answer the call.

• Service Menu WITH PRICES. Do you offer massage services? Pedicures? Extensions or Japanese Straightening? Visitors are looking for specifics. Give it to them. If you don’t put prices on your service menu, someone else will. If you had to choose between going to a restaurant where you know the prices and one where you don’t, which would you go to?

Ideally, if your budget allows, you should also invest in providing:

• Professional Design. A nice look and feel that reflects your brand and appeals to your audience. Stay away from white text on dark colors. People like to print directions, hours, and service menus, and most browsers don’t print background graphics and colors. The result is white text on … white. If you must have a dark look and feel, provide an easy to find “Print key info” link to a page with black text on white background.

• Photos of your business. An outside shot will help a customer recognize your business as they drive by looking for the street number. Inside shots will set expectations as to the atmosphere and allay fears and reluctance that stem from the unknown: "This place sounds great, but what if it’s a dump when I get there?"

• Information about your Team. It’s a necessity if you run a salon with a tiered price structure: Being able to compare bios and experience can help a customer choose which stylist to request. In most cases, it helps justify the higher prices. You can also differentiate between staff by pointing out they areas of expertise, helping to spread demand more evenly.

• Web Specials or Discounts. These help to create a relationship between you and your Web site visitor. It’s like a secret handshake: It makes them feel like they can walk in and get something most others won’t. Who can resist feeling conspiratorial and special like that?

Remember: On the web, your competition is not miles away, but only two clicks: One on the back button, and one on the link to their site. If Jane is looking for prices, she will go to the salon that posts them. If she can’t figure out the navigation in your site in less than 3 seconds in order to find your address, or specials, she will go to the next salon in the list. If she’s taking a break at work and is suddenly hit by loud music, the next click won’t be the “music off” button, provided there’s one, but the back button – and your cool introduction, or hip soundtrack will have lost the customer, not won them.

So how do you go about getting bids for a Web site? Almost everyone goes about it the wrong way: They call a few places and ask “How much is it?” That’s like calling an architect and asking how much a house costs. The answer will always be “it depends” and a lot of what it depends on are things that you’re wanting to pay them to figure out.

Here’s the best way to shop for a Web site designer or agency: Figure out the budget you can spend on your site’s development, then ask the candidates you’ve selected what they can do with that budget. Choose the response that delivers the best bang for your bucks

Here are a few guidelines to get you in the right ballpark:

• For a completely free solution, you can use one of the many online blogging sites such as Google’s Blogger <http://www.blogger.com>. These are structured like online diaries, but with a little creativity, you can make one look and behave more like a site.
  
  
• Your internet service provider may have some basic web-site building application that lets you put-up a few pages up with no more knowledge than how to point and click. The best of these low-cost solutions is Apple’s $100/yr .mac service <http://www.apple.com/dotmac>, which integrates with its iWeb Web site builder and which comes with a dozen great looking templates. There are some primarily eCommerce services that can set you up with an online “storefront” that can serve fine as a Web site for as little as $11.99/month. A good reputable example is Yahoo's Small Business service <http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com>.
  
  
• A freelance designer can probably design a simple website for about $500 – $2500, depending on how much content you want. The emphasis with a designer will be more on the look and feel, and you’ll still have to foot the site hosting bill, which they can setup for you and will run from $4.95 to $19.99 per month depending on features. Add flashy animation and movement, and you’re looking at between $2000 to $5000
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• A small web site design company or freelance programmer will be able to create a more complex site, with customer feedback and inquiry forms, some dynamic content, customization, and integration with databases such as a loyalty program. This kind of more complex site build starts at $5000 and if you add ecommerce to sell some of your products online, it can go up to $10,000 and beyond.