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We live in exciting times, where more and more people are looking to start a new business and work for themselves. In both good and bad times, the American economy is driven by the success of small and medium-sized businesses. In this era of smartphones and “googling” for information on businesses, as opposed to using the Yellow Pages, the public expects businesses to have an online presence. The lack of an online presence can deter customers from your service and products, and limit the amount of advertisement exposure your business will have overall. Many people exclusively use the Internet when looking for business services, and without any online presence, you will be missing an ever-growing group of potential customers.
A website gives you greater control of your public image. Instead of being at the mercy of customer review websites such as Yelp, you will be able to communicate directly to potential and long-time customers, such as relaying up-to-date information, hours of operation and location of your physical storefront and answering commonly-asked questions. This also lends itself to a time savings for you, as customers can be referred to the website for information.
Mindie Burgoyne asks, “If you often wish you could communicate effectively with a broader range of clients / customers, publicly post answers to frequently asked questions, attract new customers, break in to new markets and take the market share from your competitors – then a website is a MUST!”
A website allows you to set yourself apart from your competition and to discuss the unique of your service or products (especially if your main competitors do not have a website), and you will be able to update information much faster and easier than with traditional media, such as magazines and newspapers. You will be able to direct search engine traffic towards your business, thus increasing your exposure. Additionally, a business website also allows you to establish yourself as an authority with your customers and within the industry, thus leading to greater credibility. This is especially true when it comes to businesses in specialized fields. It also gives you the opportunity to generate a mailing list of potential and existing customers by gathering website visitor statistics.
You will also gain the potential for online sales. Tim W. Knox advises business owners not to be too quick to dismiss the feasibility of offering products and services online. “Nowadays, there's very little that can't be sold over the internet. ...I'm not saying you should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the internet, though if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you should certainly be considering it. The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.”
Although all businesses should have a web presence, there are a few situations where a website is not ideal. If you are currently at your capacity to serve your customers, and are not looking to expand, your web presence will be focused more on building trust and communicating with your current clientele. In this situation, you will be centered more on maintaining customer connections through social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and blogging. “I love blogging because I build relationships with new people and with potential customers and existing customers, but that’s not the actual business,” says LaShanda Henry, owner of Multiple Shades of You Online. If a business finds much of its clientele through foot traffic or word-of-mouth, they would want to center more on building and maintaining detailed online listings, such as Google Places.
It’s important to take time to examine your web presence goals before building a website. A website centered on building an online community is far different than a web storefront. As with any major business endeavor, it requires a good deal of forethought and pre-planning.
All businesses benefit from having a website to base their online presence. Whether you are focusing on doing business only locally or are intending to be worldwide through web commerce, your business will gain from reaching out into the online world.
A website gives you greater control of your public image. Instead of being at the mercy of customer review websites such as Yelp, you will be able to communicate directly to potential and long-time customers, such as relaying up-to-date information, hours of operation and location of your physical storefront and answering commonly-asked questions. This also lends itself to a time savings for you, as customers can be referred to the website for information.
Mindie Burgoyne asks, “If you often wish you could communicate effectively with a broader range of clients / customers, publicly post answers to frequently asked questions, attract new customers, break in to new markets and take the market share from your competitors – then a website is a MUST!”
A website allows you to set yourself apart from your competition and to discuss the unique of your service or products (especially if your main competitors do not have a website), and you will be able to update information much faster and easier than with traditional media, such as magazines and newspapers. You will be able to direct search engine traffic towards your business, thus increasing your exposure. Additionally, a business website also allows you to establish yourself as an authority with your customers and within the industry, thus leading to greater credibility. This is especially true when it comes to businesses in specialized fields. It also gives you the opportunity to generate a mailing list of potential and existing customers by gathering website visitor statistics.
You will also gain the potential for online sales. Tim W. Knox advises business owners not to be too quick to dismiss the feasibility of offering products and services online. “Nowadays, there's very little that can't be sold over the internet. ...I'm not saying you should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the internet, though if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you should certainly be considering it. The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.”
Although all businesses should have a web presence, there are a few situations where a website is not ideal. If you are currently at your capacity to serve your customers, and are not looking to expand, your web presence will be focused more on building trust and communicating with your current clientele. In this situation, you will be centered more on maintaining customer connections through social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and blogging. “I love blogging because I build relationships with new people and with potential customers and existing customers, but that’s not the actual business,” says LaShanda Henry, owner of Multiple Shades of You Online. If a business finds much of its clientele through foot traffic or word-of-mouth, they would want to center more on building and maintaining detailed online listings, such as Google Places.
It’s important to take time to examine your web presence goals before building a website. A website centered on building an online community is far different than a web storefront. As with any major business endeavor, it requires a good deal of forethought and pre-planning.
All businesses benefit from having a website to base their online presence. Whether you are focusing on doing business only locally or are intending to be worldwide through web commerce, your business will gain from reaching out into the online world.
Janet Houck is the Senior Editor for the Small Business Online Toolkit
She has been a freelance editor and published author for almost a decade.
Read more about her on her SBwebtoolkit Bio page
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