Having a website has become a near necessity for most businesses. In fact, doing business today is nearly unthinkable without one. But could your website actually be causing more harm than good?

Having a website is like putting on a coat when you go outside. If it's warm and rainy, you aren't going to want to put on a ski jacket. And if it's a blizzard, a windbreaker probably won't do. The same can be said for your website.

You don't want to bombard your visitors with excessive content or too many design elements if your services are simple; and you don't want to leave your customer wondering what you do if you offer a more complex service or product that merits more information. Putting on the wrong online ‘coat' can misrepresent you to your audience.

If you already have a website, or if you're thinking of creating one for your business, consider the following six questions as you go:

1. Does the look and feel of my website coincide with my brand identity I've developed offline?

2. Can my customers easily find my contact information? (If not, how are they going to get in touch with you to buy things from you?)

3. Do I feel distracted by certain colors or elements on the page that are competing for my attention away from my main message?

4. Does my website look new and fresh while presenting professionalism?

5. Does my main homepage quickly and clearly tell customers what my business is and how it can benefit them?

6. Am I tracking the traffic to my website, refining the most important pages and monitoring other key metrics through basic analytics?

Keeping these questions in mind as you build a website or revise a website should help get you on the right track for having your website represent you instead of work against you. You want the customers that have seen your offline marketing to visit your website and not feel surprised or confused. It is a part of your branding package and as such, it should meld with your other materials to reinforce your integrity as a business.

So, does your website represent you, or are you wearing the wrong online marketing outerwear?