5 Reasons You Need a Website
You have just taken the plunge to open your business, and with budgeting, licensing, paperwork, employees, forms, phone calls, and customers to worry about, a website online may be the last thing on your mind. Or, you may have been in business for a while, and have been successful without having an online presence. You may even admit that your product or service can’t be sold or offered online. Plus, computers and technology make your head hurt.
So why do you need a website?
A website is more versatile and useful than you may think. Here are 10 reasons why your business needs a website.
1. A website can be your hardest working employee.
Unlike a human employee, a well-designed and informative website is available 24 hours a day, all year. It never goes on vacation, doesn’t take a sick day (for the most part, and even the occasional server downtime is minimal), and can provide information and support to your customers after business hours. Plus, a website only incurs a one-time payment to begin with.
2. A website can lower the time spent with emails and telephone calls, and costs less than brochures.
Have a product that new customers want to know more about? Are you tired of answering the same questions over and over again? It is becoming a pain to email images of your product every time you get new interest? Losing money on printing and mailing brochures? Have investors, or potential investors, who want to see the numbers on your business? A website can fix all of that. Keeping your website updated and full of essential information about your business means you can waste less time answering questions and more time on other important tasks. Simply give out your website address and allow your customer to inform themselves. Remember, setting up a website one time is cheaper than reprinting brochures, and will accommodate curious potential customers online at 2:00am in the morning.
3. A website can reach a new customer base.
So you run your business in Texas. You sell a product that someone in California may find useful. A simple website with a shopping cart can more than double your profits. Even if it’s not viable to sell your product online, you’ve just made your presence known to customers you couldn’t have reached before, and if your product or service is really worth it, customers will make the effort to reach out to you, regardless of your location.
4. A professional website is better than Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Don’t misunderstand. Those websites have their function. But they are not appropriate places for a legitimate business to host a website. They simply don’t have a format conducive to doing business. Also, the amount of customers you receive should not depend solely on the amount of “friends” or comments you receive.
5. Customers today expect a reputable business to have a website.
Everyone expects you to have a business card. And regardless of what you do, people expect your business to have a website listed on that business card. It’s becoming a new norm, especially in our technological society. Since websites are so effective and affordable, there’s really no excuse for a business not to have one. And it’s something that potential customers notice. A simple, well-designed, informative website tells a customer that your business is worth taking a look. It’s worth the investment.
