Why have a website?
The majority of companies do not understand or appreciate the tangible and intangible benefits of having a website. Many companies don't even realize the number of customers who come into their 'bricks and mortar' stores, have already researched and 9 times out of 10 made their purchasing decision via their company website before they walk in the door.
There has been a huge buzz around e-commerce in the last two years which has confused a lot of people. The reality behind owning a website is that these days, time is precious and people like to let their fingers do the walking on their keyboard and then drive to the store to make the purchase or even better, purchase online.
If you invest money in advertising or marketing it is important to find out where your customers come from. Unless you and your staff ask the simple question 'how did you find out about us', and record that information somewhere, you will not know how well your marketing is working for you.
Properly applied as a business tool, the Internet has the capability to:
- Reduce your cost of doing business
- Increase your competitive advantage
- Raise brand awareness
- Give your company global reach, without global offices
- Increase sales indirectly and directly
- Make your employees more productive
- Improve communications between your company and suppliers
- Improve communications between your company and customers
If you are trying to establish whether or not your company needs a website, answer these questions:
- Do I have a solid business reason to make the move?
- Is there a better way to achieve the same business goal?
- Am I doing this for a better reason than "everybody else is"?
- Will buyers of my product/service look for it on the Internet?
- Can I adequately demonstrate the value of my product or service over the Internet?
- Does the potential return justify the expense?
Don't let anyone convince you to build a website, no matter how cheap - until you have considered the above questions.
And a final bit of advice:
Your website is the front door to your business. If it is outdated, untidy, difficult to navigate or has broken links, people aren't going to step through. Having that type of website is more detrimental to your business than having no website at all.
