1. Introduction
With how fast the internet and technology are growing, we are learning to rely on the internet to give us answers. This is the beauty of having a website. If you ask anyone for any information about a business, they will attempt to find the website first. If you do not have a website, this results in bad viewed business and the competitor will be chosen for convenience.
Your website can replace your regular store, front office with just a click of a link. As a matter of fact, your website is the perfect workplace as well because there are no long hours and no stress in maintaining it. An existing customer can also benefit from your website by bookmarking it as a favorite, and this will save time in trying to find your company via a search engine and also taking the hassle of telephoning you.
A website can act as an online store, an online office – a place that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which is available to anyone from the general public who has internet access. People can possibly learn about you and your company because of your website. This includes existing and potential customers. If you provide products or services, reservations or appointments can be taken at any time. This is an added benefit, convincing the customer to choose your company.
Today, in this fast-growing world, the internet has become the most essential part of any business. Every business, whether it is small or big, requires a website to represent it. A website plays a very important role in business. It can be considered as the online face of a business. A good website can make a huge difference between a business that is successful and a business that isn’t.
2. Enhanced Online Presence
It is an established fact that any company interested in making serious inroads into creating a profitable business must pay keen attention to their website design and development. This prerequisite applies to companies large and small, and the field may even be termed as vital for a successful entry into today’s world. The advent of the World Wide Web has revolutionized global communications, and nothing has had such a profound effect on this than the blooming of the use of the internet. Whether it is its universal accessibility or its global reach, there are few parallels in the history of mankind.
Some would argue that setting up a pretty-looking website is good enough. While having a clean and functional website is imperative for businesses of all sizes, the web is a very crowded marketplace, and having a pretty site might be the equivalent of having a pretty-looking shopfront of a shop in a back alley in a little-frequented road. Without visitors to the shop, there will be no sales, and without sales, the business will soon close down. Building a website is really just the initial stage of entering this very “crowded marketplace”.
With that in mind, the success or failure of a website can hinge on the effectiveness or not of getting targeted visitors who are potential customers to your site. This is, no doubt, a topic in its own right, involving a large amount of knowledge and skillset that is generally beyond those who are industry professionals in anything not related to information technology or a prejudice of the modern-day “IT savvy” individual. No matter how good its product, business, or idea, every company must also accept the notion that any successful business idea will be emulated, and there are always competitors out there. In the interconnected world of the internet, this means a company’s website and a plethora of backlinks leading to it. In some cases, it is not uncommon to find competitors attempting to hijack the search engine traffic that would otherwise be going to your site. It is for these reasons that almost all businesses today, cutting across all industries, are contemplative of SEO as an integral part of their web initiative.
3. Increased Customer Reach
In a study, it is suggested that the significant buying funnel for B2B (business to business) businesses is quite a bit longer than their B2C (business to consumer) counterparts. This being said, B2B businesses need leads to sustain their business and help grow revenues. With the longer buying cycle, there is more time for the general consumer to research the product or service. As noted, 74 percent of buyers perform more than half of their purchasing research online before buying a product offline. And when both B2B and B2C buyers are ready to end their researching/buying cycle, now it is easier than ever to find out what they want and to capture these transactions. With a website, it makes this type of research to purchase behavior easier, where the consumer can come directly to you, potentially increasing customer retention. With high-quality SEO, the potential of PPC and remarketing ad campaigns, and using analytics like Google Analytics, you can find out what your consumers’ behavior and patterns are and can continuously improve on these methods and effectively increase their return on investment for the marketing dollar spent. With the modern-day fast-paced technology, more and more consumers are wanting to make transactions online instead of speaking to a sales representative. This is beneficial for B2C, as stated previously, and B2B companies looking to capture leads and prospects for service. The site visitor can attain the information they need from the business and hopefully become a valid customer without speaking to any representative.
4. Effective Marketing Tool
When it comes to promotion, a website can be a highly effective marketing tool with the power to deliver your message to both new and existing customers. In comparison to TV, print, and radio, a website can be a more affordable option, while the potential that it holds is substantial. Not only is it cost-effective due to its lasting nature, if created and marketed effectively, a website can significantly increase the business’s revenue. A major benefit of having a website is its potential accessibility to a global audience. The internet knows no boundaries, and for many businesses, a website can be a major factor in global expansion. Websites are accessible from anywhere in the world provided there is an internet connection. With online tools such as ‘PayPal’, it’s easy to conduct business transactions with a simple mouse click. This convenience saves a lot of time and reduces cost for both the business and the consumer. With the implementation of an online store, a consumer can directly access the business’s products which may not be locally available or simply aren’t being sold by the local competitors.
A website can be a key marketing tool for small and local businesses. In today’s internet-based society, many consumers use the internet to find information about the product or services they require. Without a website, consumers would be looking to newspapers which are rarely used for classifieds and general information, the yellow pages, or relying on information from town hall. Step into the modern age and stake your claim on that potential revenue. By having a website, any consumer with an internet access can find information about a particular product, service, or business at any time. The information will be permanent and relay the message in the exact method that the business desires. This can potentially turn a curious consumer into a paying customer.
On a similar note, websites can be a highly effective tool for businesses in competitive markets. Today, every business acknowledges the importance of search engine optimization. Often times, it can be hard to outdo a competitor in the ranking of a particular search, however, it proves to be an ongoing battle that is necessary for success. When a consumer searches a particular product or service, it is not unlikely that he will seek multiple businesses in order to compare prices and opinions. A website with high visibility and quality advertising can draw a capable customer away from a visit to the competition. Whether that customer was gained through superior advertising or was originally at the competition’s store, a business can take pride in the fact that the website has proven a consumer source and maybe the deciding factor in the customer’s future visits.
5. Improved Customer Engagement
Customer engagement is one of the key advantages of having a website for customers. Using features like guest books, chat rooms, and email to engage the visitor in a two-way communication, it’s possible to create a strong relationship that benefits your business. A website is a great way to keep in touch with your customers and let them know about the latest products and services your business has to offer. This can be achieved by regularly updating the website and letting the customer know by email. A website is a very effective way of targeting customers who are unsure about the products or services that your business offers.
By allowing them to navigate a well-structured site and obtain the information they are looking for, you can turn a prospect into a conversion. This is achieved through providing the customer with all the information they would need about a product or service. Using methods such as teaching resources, articles, or quality information, a website can quickly turn around a customer’s feelings towards a particular product or service. Allowing them to learn more about what it is exactly that you offer and the benefits provides a stronger impact on the conversion.
