Perhaps, the question ‘why’, is a good incentive for doing things the way we do if only most of us gave it a thought. In the digital world of today, doing business without a website would do you more harm than good as far as profit and losses are concerned. If you haven’t figured out why a website is a necessity for business, here are 10 reasons to give you a different perspective on the matter.
- Your competitors are ahead of the game
Have you ever wondered why your competitors are always one or more steps ahead of you? It’s certainly because they already built their websites a long time ago. You are clearly disadvantaged if you are competing with a business that already has a website and engaged in strategic website marketing. - Your Customers deserve better services
A website makes it possible and easier for you to provide your customers and users with information plus content that can be downloaded. It’s very certain that your customers have a lot of questions for which they seek answers for. Most of these questions are common. With a website, you can provide them with answers in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section. It also offers your staff with a reference point when offering customer support services. Other than offering answers, a website makes it possible for you to interact with your clients through feedback. Forms and surveys make it easier for you to collect important information about your prospective customers and clients that can be used for marketing. Depending on the products and services offered by your company, a website will enable you provide your customers with downloadable manuals and guides. This makes your customer service lines less busy as most clients would rather reference the provided content on the website than call the customer care line. - People will seek you online
In the digital world, people are always seeking for more information on certain brands online. It’s not a surprise that one of your clients or potential customers will try to do that as well. Imagine what will happen when they do that and find nothing about your business or in the worst case scenario, they find your competitors! Getting yourself a website is not enough if a search engine can’t list you in the results page. Missing online is analogous to missing on a phone book listing. Having an online presence is vital in this information conscious age for any business. - It’s cheaper and easier to advertise with a website
Whether you are offering services, products or simply you, a website will make it easier for you or your content to get viral within a short time span. All forms of advertising are costly especially if your target is a specific person or product. Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that your audience are paying attention to what you are marketing. As for a website, whether your audience is paying attention or not, you don’t have to dig an extra dime from your pocket. Websites resemble brochures which are reproduced for free, are interactive and quick to distribute to the ready market seeking them. Websites are the most effective, unrivaled and easiest to use mode of advertising you can ever need. - You are available to clients on a 24/7 basis
With a website, your business will always be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round. Your clients can easily make their purchases online at any time irrespective of their location. Most people always seek for products and services during late hours when a bigger percentage of businesses are closed. If your competitors are available around the clock, imagine the amount of profits they earn as compared to a business that operates from 8am-5pm. - Get access to millions of people
With a website, it doesn’t matter whether a person is surfing next door or from the other end of the planet. They all have access to the same website, same content, same products and same services all at a go. Mailing and phone call costs are extremely high for a business to achieve targeted profits. However, with a website, sharing information with your customers is easier irrespective of where they are located and you don’t have to incur additional expenses. - Make money passively
Making money from your business doesn’t have to involve physical activities or purchases. A full e-commerce website lets your clients place orders or buy products or services via the internet. You don’t need to be part of anything once your website is fully designed to that capacity. Your website will be in the form of a catalog with images and descriptions of products and services you are offering. You can take customer experience even further with videos and audios that demonstrate what your products do. - Communicate effectively with your team players
The digital age has brought a real significant change to the way people access information. Many are turning away from the traditional ways of accessing information to using the online platform. Use of printed directories and Yellow pages are becoming obsolete every day since they only allow communication on a limited form. With a carefully built website, your employees, clients and suppliers can get clear guidance from accessing pages of information on your website. You may also include audios and videos, something that brochures and other printed materials cannot offer. - Provide basic information
Basic information such as your opening and closing hours as well as days can sometimes cost you a lot but cannot be ignored all together. Other basic information such as payment plans, phone contacts, email address are as well important and the easiest and efficient way to share them with your clients is through a website. Always ensure such important information can be easily found by search engines. - Website makes marketing affordable
A comparison between the cost of building a website and that of printing newspapers, magazines, or brochures provides interesting results. The latter’s cost is trifling. Websites can be easily updated with fresh content as your business dynamics changes. As for prints, you have to create new ones. A Website also supports addition of new products and services with a few steps. When you design a high quality website that is both search engine and user friendly, every time a search related to your website’s niche is done, your site will always come first, making it easier for you to get targeted traffic from potential clients.
