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Quite often owners of small businesses question whether or not it is really necessary to establish an online presence. After all, they do the bulk of their business on a local level and it just never occurred to them that by developing a website they could greatly increase traffic and literally own their market area. Many proprietors make the mistake of thinking that because they are not selling online they don’t really need to establish a website. Whether or not you intend to do business online is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that exposure (advertising) is the key to success and you have no greater tool at your disposal than the World Wide Web to get your name out there in lights.

Today’s consumer is Internet savvy: 2009 Internet Statistics

In order to understand just how vital a website is to the growth of your business, just consider these facts. According to the Nielson Online ratings, 74.1% of the population in the United States had internet access in the year 2009. That was almost double the figures from just a decade ago. In the year 2000 only 44.1% of households had access to the internet. Because we are living in an age where information is passed on literally at the speed of light, today’s consumer wants answers to questions almost before they are asked.

What do internet statistics have to do with my business?

In terms of your business, if you have a product or service to sell, you can have that buyer ‘pre-qualified’ long before he or she even walks in the door. They will have had the opportunity to see what you have to offer by browsing your website, they can do all the research they need from the comfort of their own home and will be prepared to sign on the dotted line when they walk in your door. If they were not ready to do business, they wouldn’t be there – they would still be searching online! This saves you valuable time and expense because your staff will not be tied up answering questions that can be found online. And of course, the customer is already sold on your product or services because they found you online, they liked what they saw and made the decision to make the trip to your physical location.

A website provides more advertising for your money.

The cost of radio or television ‘spots’ have gone through the roof. They are just not affordable to the average small business owner unless they are featured during the wee hours of the night, and then who’s up to view or hear them? Newspaper ads don’t reach the audience they once did unless you are talking about coupon inserts and direct mail can only say so much. With a website you can advertise literally every product you carry or service you provide because the space available is literally unlimited. Prospective customers can find what they need at the click of the mouse and you can go into as much or as little detail about that item as you so desire. You can include pictures, product specs, instructions, or whatever information you would like to highlight. On the web your possibilities are endless.

Online searches win out over the yellow pages every time!

Recent surveys have proven that shoppers find it easier to find a local business online than by looking through the yellow pages. When questioned why, many people responded jokingly that it is easier to ‘misplace the phonebook than it is my computer.’ While there may be humor in that, the reality is that it is much easier to sit down and do a quick “Google” than it is to leaf through a huge phone book with microscopic typeset. Then, the consumer can simply click on a link that takes them to a map for directions to your location. This helps to prevent lengthy phone calls that tie up your staff who are trying to give coherent directions to your location. It is easy to get indexed in Google or any of the search engines so consumers can find you quite easily and they don’t even need to know the name of your business! All they need to know is what kind of product or service they are looking for and the city they want to shop in. Once you are indexed they can easily find your business with a simple search.

A website can expand your market area significantly.

Many small businesses started out on a local level and gradually expanded their market area by promoting their business online. Creating an online merchant account is quite easy to set up and if you currently take the major credit cards it is just a matter of establishing a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) that enables online shoppers to purchase safely. There are a number of Payment Gateways who provide this service for you so that you really won’t need any specialized computer skills to take online payments. You can literally do business worldwide if your product is one that can be shipped.

Online presence gives you the Competitive Edge.

With a website it is easy to stay one step ahead of the competition. First of all, if you are competing with other small businesses in your market area, many of them may not yet have a website. When that customer Googles a product which several businesses carry, they are going to find your company because you have a website that Google can index. And then again, if your competition is online as well, it is easy to keep up with specials and promos they are offering. By keeping tabs on your competition’s websites you can gain the competitive edge.

Conclusion and an insight into the next article in this series.

Taking all of this into consideration, it is easy to see the necessity of developing a website for any small business. Not only will it help you to survive in today’s highly competitive market, but a website can also help you significantly broaden your horizons. The object of being in business is to make money and it just stands to reason that you can make more money if you can reach more prospective customers. Promoting your business online is proven to be the most effective method of building a customer base while streamlining your operations to save yourself a great deal of time and money. In the next article we will discuss how to actually go about developing a website and getting it hosted online.

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