How Important Is It to Have a Website?
This is a question many people ask when opening a business that does not have an online component. However, the simple truth is that if your company is not on the worldwide web then to many people it doesn’t exist. To many people a company without a website can’t be a real company, and they will be duly suspicious of it. Companies are expected to have a website, not having one will affect your credibility – period. But, what are the other reasons for having a presence on the web? Here are our top ten reasons to have a website, over and above the credibility issue.(How Important to Have a Website)
1. With a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page you can save yourself, or your customer service team a lot of time as people can find the answers to their questions online.(How Important to Have a Website)
2. You can feature downloadable documents, brochures, price lists, technical spec sheets and just about anything else on your website to save money on printing and mailing print materials and help save the planet at the same time.
3. Without a website your competitors are one step ahead of you – actually get real, they’re light years ahead of you! Be sure to make your website more attractive, more informative and easier to navigate than theirs!(How Important to Have a Website)
4. It can offer you a whole new sales avenue as people purchase online. 24/7 sales becomes effortless! Even if you don’t sell product, people could book appointments online, just as easy as they book hotel rooms
5. Through blogs and other social media, you can interact with your customers no matter where in the world they live. It reaches out far beyond your primary target market into multiple demographics, across continents and across cultural divides. Heck, you can even offer your site in multiple languages at a very low cost.(How Important to Have a Website)
6. It allows you to present your brand, and your organizational culture. What is it they say? “You are what you wear” – and just like your clothes your website says a lot about you! That’s not all, as fashion changes, or you need to update your brand, it’s easy and quick to rebrand your web presence.
7. You can say a tremendous amount on a website at no additional cost. From photographs of your products, testimonials and personnel biographies, to demonstration videos and blogs, you can reach out to your customers and potential customers like never before.
8. The number of people using Yellow Pages, or other directories, to seek out businesses is falling rapidly – people use the Internet to search for businesses, opening hours, prices etc. Not only are people looking for the opening hours and contact information online, they are also doing comparison shopping prior to turning up at your establishment. If you don’t have an online presence, then you may not feature on their prospective supplier’s list at all!(How Important to Have a Website)
9. It’s an incredibly cost effective brochure, that can be updated quickly and easily. You can also educate your market by offering more detailed and intensive documents, for those who want to delve deeper into what you offer.(How Important to Have a Website)