Why You Need a Website
Here are a few reasons why businesses today, even small ones, should have a web site.
- Be "open" 24/7 - Your website works for you while you're on the phone, with a customer, or sleeping! There are no labour costs to incur for the sales or goodwill your site can generate all over the world, across time zones and borders.
- Look bigger than you are - The World Wide Web levels the playing field between big and small, corporate giant and home-based business, to a large degree. A website can do the same job of effectively promoting and branding your smaller company as it will do for "the big guys".
- Save hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars a year on print advertising costs - A website is an online brochure that is available at any time or place for a fraction of the cost of print advertising. Better yet - it can't be thrown into a garbage bin!
- Reach local, regional, national, or global markets - Again, all for a fraction of the cost of regular advertising campaigns.
- Protect your local market - Local business is good business! With the ever-growing variety of products and services being offered online globally, local customers have the opportunity to purchase outside the local market area. Don't let them get away! Give them the chance to find you and shop locally, instead.
|
- Help people find you - At some point, people will attempt to find you online. They'll type your company name into a search engine somewhere and hope to get you. Will they find you, or only your competitors? In this day and age, not having a website is akin to not having a telephone listing in the phone book.
- Build trust with your prospective clients - These days, people expect businesses to have a website. In fact, not having an online presence can even cause suspicion in some folks! You can easily enhance your perceived professionalism by having a quality web site.
- Give great customer service - Let your customers know about requirements, specifications, store locations, business hours, frequently asked questions, and more, all through your website.
- Keep up to date quickly - Changes in services, pricing, product lines, or other information can be made almost immediately so your clients never have to be out of the loop.
- Put your customers at ease - People can pre-browse your product line or services at a pace that comfortable to them without fear of over-eager salespeople hovering nearby.
|
And last, but not least: Don't forget the competition - 60% of businesses now have websites. That means your competition may already be on the web, giving them the advantage of reaching into markets you are unable to access without your own online presence.
So what should you do now?
We recommend that before you begin looking for a web designer, decide on a budget and put some time into planning your site. We have some basic questions on our contact form to get you started, and our free, no-obligation consultation can help you further determine what your needs are and who might be best to meet them.
But - don't delay! Get started today! Reading through the reasons above, you'll see that having a website is an essential ingredient to a good advertising plan in today's world. Putting it off means losing opportunities, and the benefits to having an online presence powerfully outweigh any associated costs.
