Does your business REALLY need a website?

In today’s world, many consumers begin their hunt for products and services on the Internet. While it is not absolutely necessary for a business to have a website in order to thrive, there are many benefits to showcasing your business online.

Also, the maintenance costs associated with owning a website are not very high, so the benefits are able to quickly outweigh the costs.

Reaching a Wider Audience

One huge concern of business owners is marketing their products/services to a wide and targeted audience. Many potential customers of your business locate the products they are looking for by performing web searches on popular search engines. If you own a properly maintained and optimized website, your business can be one of the first seen by those seeking the kind of products that you sell.

This is an extremely effective way of leading targeted consumers to your business. Also, this encompasses a much wider geographical market than more traditional, offline methods of marketing such as newspaper ads or billboards. If you choose to sell your products online as well, this opens your business up to customers from potentially around the globe. Which leads us into our next point…

Online Sales

One of the greatest benefits to having a website for your business is the ability to sell products online. This allows you to automate the checkout process, which can save you a lot of headaches in the long run and can add much revenue to your business. Another thing to consider is that traditional brick-and-mortar business sales are confined to the normal business hours of operation, but online sales can happen at any time of the day. Your business can even generate revenue while you are asleep!

Types of Business Websites

Even if you do not plan on selling products on your website, there are still reasons for your business to have an online presence. Some businesses use their website as a sort of a brochure, where they can provide their customers with the contact information of the business, the address of the location, and a concise description of who they are and what they have to offer. Others take this concept a step further by also providing a live chat system where customers can ask the business questions in real-time.

An up-to-date frequently asked questions (FAQ) page can also serve a similar purpose by answering the most common queries your business gets in advance. Also, if your business would benefit from giving bits of information to your customers every so often (for example, facts about vitamins on a nutritionist’s website), a blog on your website would work very well for disseminating relevant tidbits to your customers.

Set It And Forget It

Well, having an accompanying website for your business is not quite as simple as the commercials you see on TV would have you believe, but many of the questions your future customers may have can be easily answered by reading the information listed on your business website. Rather than having all of your customers come into your physical location and ask common questions about your products, you can list common questions and answers on your website for them all to see, as well as photos of each of your products so your customers know exactly what you have to offer.

SandStorm IT has a team of developers to tackle any website project. Contact us at 901-475-0275 with any questions about getting a website for your business! Also, feel free to check out our web design portfolio to view our previous projects.