Does My Business Need a Website?
A web site is a powerful Internet marketing medium, providing many options for marketing via site and sound, and featuring as much or as little information as the business owner sees fit to make available.
At a minimum, a web site makes it easy for you to showcase your goods and services which can generate more business leads from potential customers and cause your present customers to buy more. Now that secure online payment is a reality, a company or organization can complete point-to-point sales transactions from seller to buyer, eliminating costly distributor expenses. Moreover, with the advances in shopping cart software, a fully enabled e-commerce web site has never been easier to set up and maintain. In no time, you can create a virtual storefront or office that can be open twenty-four hours a day, 365 days of the year.
Increase Communication
A key advantage of the Internet is that it allows for the instant distribution of information. You can expand your marketing reach from local to national to international markets, and the beauty of this is that your costs don't expand with the increase in coverage.
People from all over the world use the Internet on a daily basis to search for various products and services. Using web sites to distribute information in a timely manner is a key reason sales organizations are building web sites. Visitors can easily find the information they are looking for, whether it is product details or availability and pricing. Altering the information contained within a web site makes more financial sense than phoning, faxing, or mailing your customers every time new information regarding products or services is released.
Reduce Expenses
A web site is an online brochure that delivers information, immediately and internationally over the Web, without the expenses of related printed material. To reduce phoning, faxing, printing, and postage costs, automated mailing lists can send the same e-mail message to 1000 customers for nearly the same cost as sending one. E-mail is cheaper than courier services, postal mail, faxes or phone calls and faster than most. If you have suppliers on the Internet you may also be able to do your purchasing cheaper and easier. An online business costs far less to run, as startup and recurring overhead costs are relatively low. A one person office on a very limited budget can enjoy the same market reach and audience of global Fortune 500 companies.
Reduce Service Costs
Customer service and support are critical to any business. lines are expensive to maintain. A web site can provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service and support. The service area of your web site can be as simple as a dedicated e-mail box and published answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), or as sophisticated as an interactive, online chat feature where you respond directly to customers in real time discussions. The ability to have service and product updates, provided on a web site, adds value to a company's service, as well as additional visibility to their customers.
Increase Marketing
A web site creates opportunities for additional marketing and joint marketing with other organizations. There is no greater image builder for a company than a compelling and informative web site that can be seen all over the world. Your organization can be placed into dozens of online directories and search engines, increasing your visibility and creating new markets by opening additional advertising channels.
Create a Network
A web site gives you the ability to interact with your customers via surveys, which can be a cost-effective way to generate sales leads and get valuable feedback. It can also be used to test and refine marketing strategies with relatively low risk. You may experiment with ideas by highlighting a product prototype online and sampling visitor opinions.
Where to Start?
There are many easy to use software packages which allow you to quickly develop a simple site. However, the degree of professionalism displayed by your site conveys a very important image to your visitors. To achieve a professionally designed site requires the services of an experienced web designer. Costs vary, depending upon the size of the site (number of pages), complexity, and the desired functions.
At a minimum, a web site makes it easy for you to showcase your goods and services which can generate more business leads from potential customers and cause your present customers to buy more. Now that secure online payment is a reality, a company or organization can complete point-to-point sales transactions from seller to buyer, eliminating costly distributor expenses. Moreover, with the advances in shopping cart software, a fully enabled e-commerce web site has never been easier to set up and maintain. In no time, you can create a virtual storefront or office that can be open twenty-four hours a day, 365 days of the year.
Increase Communication
A key advantage of the Internet is that it allows for the instant distribution of information. You can expand your marketing reach from local to national to international markets, and the beauty of this is that your costs don't expand with the increase in coverage.
People from all over the world use the Internet on a daily basis to search for various products and services. Using web sites to distribute information in a timely manner is a key reason sales organizations are building web sites. Visitors can easily find the information they are looking for, whether it is product details or availability and pricing. Altering the information contained within a web site makes more financial sense than phoning, faxing, or mailing your customers every time new information regarding products or services is released.
Reduce Expenses
A web site is an online brochure that delivers information, immediately and internationally over the Web, without the expenses of related printed material. To reduce phoning, faxing, printing, and postage costs, automated mailing lists can send the same e-mail message to 1000 customers for nearly the same cost as sending one. E-mail is cheaper than courier services, postal mail, faxes or phone calls and faster than most. If you have suppliers on the Internet you may also be able to do your purchasing cheaper and easier. An online business costs far less to run, as startup and recurring overhead costs are relatively low. A one person office on a very limited budget can enjoy the same market reach and audience of global Fortune 500 companies.
Reduce Service Costs
Customer service and support are critical to any business. lines are expensive to maintain. A web site can provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service and support. The service area of your web site can be as simple as a dedicated e-mail box and published answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), or as sophisticated as an interactive, online chat feature where you respond directly to customers in real time discussions. The ability to have service and product updates, provided on a web site, adds value to a company's service, as well as additional visibility to their customers.
Increase Marketing
A web site creates opportunities for additional marketing and joint marketing with other organizations. There is no greater image builder for a company than a compelling and informative web site that can be seen all over the world. Your organization can be placed into dozens of online directories and search engines, increasing your visibility and creating new markets by opening additional advertising channels.
Create a Network
A web site gives you the ability to interact with your customers via surveys, which can be a cost-effective way to generate sales leads and get valuable feedback. It can also be used to test and refine marketing strategies with relatively low risk. You may experiment with ideas by highlighting a product prototype online and sampling visitor opinions.
Where to Start?
There are many easy to use software packages which allow you to quickly develop a simple site. However, the degree of professionalism displayed by your site conveys a very important image to your visitors. To achieve a professionally designed site requires the services of an experienced web designer. Costs vary, depending upon the size of the site (number of pages), complexity, and the desired functions.
posted by Daze at 10:14 PM
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