Six Reasons Your Business Needs a Website
Every time someone asks you for your website address, you once again resolve to get yourself one, don’t you? Or maybe your do-it-yourself site isn’t attracting the traffic you expected. Either way, you can no longer afford not to have a professional, well-designed, user-friendly website. Maybe these six reasons will get you to jump off that fence into the 21st century!
It gives you “business cred. ”
More and more consumers are using the internet to shop, whether for products or services, which explains why more and more businesses have websites. That makes a business without one, well, suspect or behind the times —as unfair an assessment as that may be. If consumers can’t find you on the internet, they’re going to click right through to your competitors who have a web presence. You are essentially letting customers slip right through your fingers, which is letting money slip right through your fingers.
Oh and what about all the potential customers who search online for your products and services? You know.. the ones who don’t know you exist yet.. You guessed it.. google will serve them up a tasty list of your competitors as you’re not online yet..
It saves you money.
You hear “website,” you think, “Oh, no, not another expense!” The initial outlay for designing a website varies, but once it’s up and running, the cost is anywhere from $20 to $100 a month—depending on your needs, the complexity of your website, whether or not you sell things on it etc.. Compare that with the cost of, say, a newspaper ad. Then compare the market you reach with an ad to the potential market of a website. There is no comparison. It’s an absolutely cost-effective business expense.
When your business is presented properly online, it will reach your ideal customers at the point they are out there searching for your product or service—far different from a newspaper or radio ad that goes out to the general public and hopes to reach someone in the market for your services.
It saves you time acting as a “silent sales person”.
Providing information to your customers takes time, whether it’s on the phone, face-to-face or in an email. On a website, you can present your products or services with as much information as you want. You can introduce yourself and your staff. And you can be doing that for dozens, if not hundreds, of customers all at the save time with basically no overhead or employee time needed. Also, when customers contact you, they have done their homework and are already seriously interested in your business. You won’t be wasting your time with the “window shoppers” or people who kill an afternoon engaging business owners. Remember that’s your time they’re killing, and we all know that TIME IS MONEY!
You are always open for business.
Your business may be closed, but your website is out there working for you every day, every week, all year long. People can view your products or services when they have the time. They can contact you via email with questions or take down your number to call at their convenience. They can key in their order and credit card number to order a product or pay an invoice while you sleep. The website can even thank them for you! WOW what would it be worth to you to have that ability and make money while you sleep!!
Remember there are plenty of individuals who work odd hours and will be searching the web late at night or early in the morning.. will they find your website??
You keep your customers (and potential customers) informed.
Your website is a brochure or catalog which is always current. You already know how much trouble (and expense) it is to update a brochure and send it back to your lists. With a website, you can easily add new information, new products, new services. Every day, if you want! You can immediately announce upcoming events and special promotions, giving you more opportunities to wow potential customers and close the deal.
It’s a perfect platform for value-added services.
There are instances where value-added services (or lack thereof) can make or break a business. Your website can become the “go-to” site for valuable information. For example, if you have a hardware store, you can create a blog that gives tips on do-it-yourself projects or the proper tools to use. Maybe you are a home-based travel advisor. Give the visitors to your site travel tips or inside info on destinations. A blog will keep your customers coming back and will attract the “Googlers” to your site as your articles with tips will answer their search query questions. It’s been estimated that 346 million people around the world read blogs. Why wouldn’t you want to cash in on those eyeballs, turning them into long term loyal customers!?
