Not Having A Website For Your Business Could Result In Missed Opportunities.

If you don’t have a business website then, most likely you are losing business to those companies that do have one. About 70% of the US population uses the Internet and the vast majority of those users have either purchased something online or have stated in polls they would be willing to make a purchase online. So unless your business owns a website then you are closing the door to your business to all but the most local of these people.

If you are worrying about the cost of getting your business online then don’t be. You can use a simple site builder (supplied by most website hosting companies) to create a half decent website for your company. It will cost you around $10 per month to host the site itself. If you can’t afford the $10 per month then it is likely that you are going to be in business too long anyway, so I would understand the reluctance to go ahead and build the site.

Most people, when researching about companies they are considering doing business with, look for a company website to find out about the company and their products and services. If they can’t find it then some people may pick up the telephone and ask questions, but since they have already used the Internet to search for you then it is likely they will also have come across some of your competitors selling the same products and services. So if they can’t find your site then the likelihood is that they will click to a competitor’s site and you may not only have lost that sale, but also that prospective client, forever.

For companies who wish to trade nationally and/or internationally, owning a business website is an absolute must. Your website could be like having a fleet of unpaid salespeople all over the country, or the world. If you get your site well optimized for the search engines, or if you manage your paid ads (such as Google’s AdWords) wisely then you will find that your site is getting hits from your geographical target markets, which hopefully will lead to eventual sales.

Did you know that more people use the Internet to find details of companies who provide products and services they are interested in, than those people who reach for directories such as the Yellow Pages? A study by Jupiter Media stated that 67% of people who are searching for information online chose the Internet over directories. Even Yellow Pages themselves have acknowledge the power of the Internet by taking their directories and making them available online.

As time goes by each generation will become more Internet savvy, and will come to rely on it more and more in order to gather information. With the advent of 3G and 4G mobile phones people even have the power of carrying the Internet with them in their pockets or handbags. At any point in time these people could stop in and pay a visit to your website – if you have one.

If you want to be successful in business you need to be proactive. This means marketing. You want to bring people to your company and not necessarily wait for them to drop by. A lot of companies also use their websites to build up their opt in customer (or prospective customer) lists. Adding a simple form will let visitors add their contact details so they can be kept informed about your company and special offers you may have in the future. Of course you could go and buy these opt-in lists from specialist companies, but you can be guaranteed that the contact details of people on those lists will not be as reliable as the list you build up directly from your own website.

So owning a website is tantamount to opening the doors to your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Remember if your store is closed then the likelihood is that customers will go looking for a store that is open. So do yourself, and your business, a big favor and get a website today if you don’t already own one.

Earl Gardner is a SEO Consultant for Video4Site. Video4Site is the premier web designer in Philadelphia, so contact us today for a no-obligation quotation for your website project.