If you run a small business but do not have a website, the chances are you are thinking about getting one. All your competitors seem to have one, and your customers seem surprised that you do not. Every time you advertise your business you are asked to enter your website address, but you keep putting off doing anything about getting one. In the back of your mind the main questions are ‘Why do I need a website? Will it really benefit my business? How much will it cost me?’
Here are a few of the major benefits to small businesses of having a website:
1. Customer convenience
Today, people are used to having instant information at their fingertips twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A website can provide all the facts they need, whenever they need them. If your customers have to wait until your office is open and pick up the phone to get details about your business, the chances are they will go to someone else.
2. Time saving
How much time do you spend answering simple queries about your business, or providing standard details to prospective customers? Once your website is up and running it can do most of this work for you, allowing you more time on your product and services, or on developing your business.
3. Competitive edge
Customers that use a directory, either on or off-line, to search for a product or service, are far more likely to choose a business that has a website over one that has not. This is because they can access immediate information about that company without having to make a call or write a letter. If you can not list a website address along with your business details, you are giving your competitors an edge.
4. Effective advertising
A fully optimized website, which can easily be found through online directories or search engines, is an extremely efficient form of advertising. The costs are relatively low compared to traditional methods such as placing an ad in a trade magazine, and can reach a far wider audience for a longer period of time. There is no better advertisement for your business than a well written, easy to use, customer focussed website.
5. Cutting down administration
A website can save you a vast amount of money on printed materials such as brochures and product literature. It can also be easily updated, without the need to dispose of out-of-date printed materials and order new ones. Mistakes on a website can be rectified with far less trouble than on a printed brochure. A website can be a great way to communicate new product information and special offers to your customers.
And finally to the question of cost …
While it is true that having a professional site built from scratch can be very expensive, and learning the skills to build a site yourself is very time consuming, there are alternatives. Look for companies like Web Design West Midlands that specialise in creating websites for small businesses based on standard templates. These can be tailored to suit your particular needs with content and images provided by you. For an affordable price, which means that you can have cheap website design and a fully functioning website up and running, and providing valuable information to your customers, within a few weeks.