Despite the rapid growth of the internet, surveys have shown that the majority of small business and organizations have not yet set up a website. As more of the population becomes computer-savvy, it is becoming expected that a business has a website- and if you do not, you may actually be bypassed for the competition that does have an online presence.
Level the playing field. On the internet, websites are all treated equally- whether you are a huge Fortune 500 company, or a small, one-man-band. Everyone gets the same amount of screen space when displayed on a visitor's monitor- what matters is how well you make use of that space. A well designed website that cost a few hundred dollars will almost always out-perform a poorly designed website that cost several thousand dollars.
A website also allows your company to reach a larger audience. Anyone with an internet connection from anywhere in the world can view your website once it's online- giving you the potential of instantly increasing your customer base.
Improve your customer service. A website makes it possible to provide instantly viewable information and even downloadable content. You can provide frequently asked questions for your site visitors to look up their question and instantly read the answer. Not only does this satisfy your customers, but it can provide a reference for your customer support staff.
A website is a great place to gain feedback from your customers and prospective clients. You can use surveys and forms that allow your site visitors to respond to questions you ask, enabling you to get valuable marketing information from your customers.
Depending on your company's products or services, you may also be able to provide downloadable technical manuals, user guides, or instructions. This provides value to your customers and can even eliminate the need for many people to call your customer service line.
Affordable and expandable marketing. When you compare the price of a website to the expense of creating and distributing more traditional forms of marketing materials, like newspapers, direct mail campaigns and magazine ads- the cost of setting up and maintaining a website is nominal.
One of the best features of a website is that you can quickly and easily change information as it changes within your business. Unlike printed materials that need to be revised and then reprinted at cost; a website allows you to change or add products and services as often as you wish in just a few steps.
There is potential for free advertising when other websites and blogs link to you. Also, when a website is designed well, when people type in related search terms into a search engine, your website will come up in the listings for free and allow a prospective customer to find your website.
Passive income opportunities. With a website, you can create an online store which allows customers to place orders and pay for their selections all via the internet. This all happens without your involvement once the website is designed and online, which classifies it as passive income.
Your website can act exactly like a catalog, and contain photographs and descriptions of products- or it can be more advanced and make use of some of the emerging technologies- including audio and video to fully demonstrate your products and services.
Staff Management. Having a website can also offer an improved opportunity for recruting qualified staff members. When you have an open position in your company, you could place a job opening on your website, complete with a job description for candidates to review. Many job seekers rely on the internet to find their next place of employment.
A website can also offer a way for your company to affordably train employees or remain in contact regardless of the employee's location. A password-protected area on the website could create a special employee-only section within which you could include announcements, sale events, or other information.
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