Your Business Needs a Website!
In the last post we began discussing how many businesses still operate without a website, despite overwhelming statistics about consumers turning to the web before purchasing goods and services.
Today we are going to look at some specific reasons why your small business should have its own website.
Customer Expectations:
As demonstrated by the massive amount of consumers researching online prior to making purchases, your customers expect to be able to find information about your company online. This information should be tailored to their needs and very easy to find.
Controlling Information:
Some business owners try to argue that they already have a profile on yelp.com and a Facebook page, so why do they need a website? This one is easy. Your own website will be the only online information over which you have full control. User reviews and comments are great, but shouldn’t you be the one to have the final say about what information about your company is presented to the public? Having a website for your company instantly creates an official presence on the internet.
Affordable Advertising:
Many small businesses rely on YellowPage ads and listings to get their name out there. No one is going to tell them to remove their listings, but is purchasing an ad in the ever-shrinking and increasingly expensive directory the best use of funds? Website costs are decreasing every year and have a global potential reach which leads us to the next point.
Exist Beyond Your Geographic Region:
With a website, your business exists far beyond the walls of your office or store. A website is viewable anywhere in the world or right in front of your door. The growing prominence of the mobile web is increasing this every day as well. Worldwide, there are nearly 2.5 billion people using the internet, and obviously they all will not see your website, but there is nothing stopping them from doing so.
Interaction with Existing or Potential Customers:
Not only are all of these people able to see your website, but they can also interact with you through it. Using email, contact forms, guestbooks and social media outlets, you can talk with customers from the other side of the globe, get feedback about your new products and services, or even ship orders thousands of miles away.
Level the Playing Field:
Although the budgets and project scopes vary, there is no real difference between the website of a Fortune 500 company and that of a freelancer working from the couch in his living room. A clean and professional looking website completely levels the playing field as you can present yourself and your company anyway that you like. If your company is able to help meet the needs of a customer, why do they need to know if your team is 3 people or 300?
Additional Revenue Opportunity:
This reason is intentionally listed last. While a website can be an additional source of revenue from online sales and even advertisements, this probably should not be your main concern when creating a website unless that is your entire business plan and you’ve done the due diligence necessary to make it work. If you are primarily a brick and mortar business, consider online sales a nice bonus, but don’t push your efforts away from what is already working for you.
Clearly there is a very strong case for why your business should have its own website. Before we go into depth about how to make that happen, it is first important to understand some of the basics about how websites and the internet works. We'll start to cover that next.
About the Book:
Your Business Needs a Website!
The book will be available in both print and digital versions with the goal of helping small business owners better
understand the web and to teach them what is necessary to create an effective website for their company.
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