Why do I need a website?
8 July, 2010
So you are thinking about the reason of why you require a website for your business? Firstly, the web is certainly an excellent way of getting information to a large number of people almost instantaneously. Your website will be open for business all day, every day, attracting new customers to help your business grow. Advertising, surely at it's easiest.
The internet IS information
In the past, when customers were looking for a product or service, their easiest option would be to pull out the Yellow Pages and to search for a store or company in their area that provided the product or service they were in need of. This supplied them with a name and phone number.
With the internet today, that same customer can go to a search engine and be presented with a list of business that fit their needs, with links to the website. Those web pages contains products and services with a detailed description, picture and price and even on some sites an online shopping cart system which allows the customer to order what they need without ever having to leave their office or house.
Perhaps you have a service oriented practice and you’re wondering why you should burden yourself with the added expense of a website. Simple – not having a web site will soon be like not having a listing in your local yellow pages. This is referred to as a corporate presence on the web. Even if your best business comes by word-of-mouth, your potential customers may want to check your site and make sure that you are exactly what they are looking for. A well-designed, professional website can give you added visibility and credibility.
Compared to the more traditional advertising mediums like print, the internet has potential circulation figures and coverage that can't be matched, and all at a fraction of the cost of a simple series of adverts in the local paper. The possibilities are endless with your own website. Search engines, referrals and the vast linking mechanics of the web provide volumes of traffic. One of the advantages of a website is its dynamic nature, allowing it to evolve as your organization evolves.
If you are thinking about creating a website with use of free web space and free email addresses, consider the long term (and even short term) consequences. What does it say about your business to have a web address hyphenated with a free web host name? Even if you are able to use a proper domain name with the free web space, your site is most likely to be on a server with several thousand other websites, and have a tendency to slow down drastically at times. Besides that, you will not get any help, support or advice from the free companies. When you encounter problems you will be left waiting.
Website design is the most crucial of all the online marketing media at your disposal. To attract prospective customers who are surfing the internet, your site must draw them in and hold their attention until your desired result is achieved. The result you ask? To sell!
Designing a web page is easy as there are a vast number of templates available for the ordinary person to use. Designing a good website is difficult. A professional web designer has the knowledge and skills to design a website that will most effectively present you, your business and your products and services.
Other opportunities are only a mouse click away for prospective customers, so a poorly designed website can quickly become a faint memory as the customer speeds away to another destination. The impression of that poorly designed site will give prospective customers the idea that you do not really value your customers or products and services.
A solidly designed website, appealing in content and appearance, will draw the client back for regular visits and will create word of mouth traffic as well.
You will be very lucky if your competitors have not already got a website. If they however do have their own site, it simply means taking business away from you.
It is important to understand that you cannot simply put up a website and expect that all you have to do is wait around for your business to grow. In fact, it is recommended that you use your website in addition to other marketing methods. A website should always be regarded as part of an overall marketing strategy.
For the vast majority of businesses, a website is rapidly becoming a basic requirement of a marketing plan because websites can be a very effective sales channel and marketing tool.
