Quite basically because, it is the way customers find you today. Plus it’s the fastest way to pre-qualify you or disqualify you for consideration on a purchase.
“If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.” – Bill Gates
Even if you don’t sell online a small business website is still an important part of your marketing strategy.
Customer research for nearly every purchase is now started on the internet. This is where thousands of businesses compete for the same customers. If you don’t have an online presence, then these customers just are not finding you.
Even if you don’t sell online, a website helps lend credibility to your business.
Verisign released results from a survey that found, “Small businesses believe websites make their business look more credible and are critical for success: Globally, two-thirds (65 percent) of small businesses with an online presence said they elected to create a company website because it makes their company look more credible, and 60 percent said that a website is critical for a small company’s success. Overall, 82 percent of small businesses with an online presence would recommend investment in a website to other small companies in their industry.”
An all too often overlooked benefit is that a website saves money on your overall marketing/advertising budget.
When you look at the price of developing and maintaining a simple website, you’ll quickly see how cost effective it is. How much do you pay for your Yellow Pages Listing or an ad in the Sunday newspaper? For the price of a Sunday newspaper ad you can have a simple website built.
That’s why a website needs to be considered part of the marketing budget. That also means the time you take to meet with an ad designer for a local paper/ magazine/brochure or a producer for a radio/TV spot is the same kind of time you should take with an online consultant to help you prepare your website.
An ad in the paper goes away after a day. A website is forever. Think about the time and money you are leveraging using a website versus any other kind of advertising.
Bottom Line
A website is the first place customers are looking for information about your business. You lose credibility when you do not have a website. A well-done simple small business website is less expensive than you think.