Small Business Websites
Why Every Business Can Benefit From Being Online
Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures
Don't need the extra profile that being online can bring you? Think you've got enough of a presence in the industry to survive without a website? If that's what you think, it's time to think again. Everyone can benefit from having a business website.
Even in today's technological age there are still plenty of companies that make the big mistake of thinking that a website isn't a necessary part of their marketing strategy.
Perhaps the two major culprits in this universal crime of utter foolishness are those who run local businesses and those who feel they already have enough of a profile in the marketplace.
We are all online
The truth is that both are wrong to overlook the power of the internet. The biggest mistake they are making is that of holding fast the belief that the Yellow Pages or the local phone directory is the place that people go first when they are looking for stuff. Wrong. And it's a seriously big wrong. The majority of people go to Google. You do. I do. We all do.
We are lazy
In a strange way clever old Google and its similar cousin Yahoo! have made us a bit lazy. Many of us don't bother to make a note of our local Indian takeway's number because we know that it is listed online. We can access that number when hunger strikes far quicker via a search engine than we could if we had to manually search through a phone directory that's the size of War and Peace.
We want info fast
No matter what industry your business is in an online presence can benefit it, even if it is only that your contact details are made more accessible to potential clients. These days everyone wants their information delivered fast and search engines make that happen. If you or your business don't feature you're not in the running. And you need to be even if you feel you don't need to be.
The Internet is first choice
The internet has fast become everyone's telephone directory, local paper, national press, place to socialize. It is where people turn when they need to find products and services. Even the older generation who at first were reticent about using computers are now online and adept at being so. So if your businesses target market is the over sixties group don't make the mistake of staying offline because you think your clients are. They're not; they frequent the internet just as much as any other demographic. For sheer convenience it's ideal for those who might be infirm or not able to get out as much as they used. So, if you sell and deliver products you have a ready made group of potential clients right there. The internet allows you to reach out to them.
When did you last search online?
Think of the last time you used the internet for information. Judging by the fact that you're reading this article it wasn't so long ago. Now imagine what processes you would have had to go through to get that information without the internet. If you stay off line your clients will have to go through similar hassles to locate you. Make it easy for them. Get a website. That way you are just a few keywords and mouse clicks away from being noticed by new customers.
Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."
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