Advantages of a Business Website

If you're in business without a website, you're losing time, money, customers and sales. Here are just a few advantages of having your own website:

1) Your Shop Window to the World

Your own website will provide you with a virtual shop window to customers world-wide. Alternatively, your website can be optimised to attract customers from your own region, or locality.

2) Open 24 hours a day

Your website is working for you, advertising and promoting your products and services every hour of the day. Visitors and customers can learn about your products, services and your company at a time that suits them.

3) Selling While You Sleep

Many products and services can be sold online automatically and securely without the need for human intervention.
Customer enquiries can be promptly acknowledged automatically by email.
Customers can easily download your latest brochures, manuals or marketing information.
Online payments can be made any time of the day.

4) More Customers

If your potential customer base is extended world-wide and your virtual office never closes, you will have more customers than without a web site. If you are able to sell online, then you'll have even more customers.

5) Level Playing Field

Whether you're working from home, or from a small office, your website can place you on a level playing field with the websites of your competitors or major organisations.

6) Saving You Time

If your customers ask you recurring questions, place the answers on your web site. This could be in the form of an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), or more information about your product, or service, or operating instructions, user manual, product brochure, etc.

7) Saving you Money

Information that you would normally have printed can often be adapted for online distribution - saving you printing and postage costs. Obviously, it's much cheaper, faster and more reliable to communicate by email, rather than expensive snail mail. Documentation can be sent via email distribution lists, or made available to your customers through your web sites download area.

Your website can also be used for cheaper advertising and compared to printed matter, it's much cheaper, easier and quicker to update your online catalogues.

8) Creating Customer Confidence

These days, customers expect you to have a website. When you have your own web site, you'll also have a domain name, such as www.mybusiness.com. When you have a domain name, you'll also have a related email address, such as info@mybusiness.com.

A business card, and stationary, printed with your web address and corresponding email address indicates that you're serious about your business.

Business stationary that shows the domain address of a telecoms provider, or a free email account usually does little to inspire customer confidence or credibility.

Visitors to your website are more likely to do business with you if they know who you are. Your web site is a great place to let your visitors know about you and your company, where you are located and what you do. Importantly, you need to assure your visitors that it is safe to do business with you.

9) Market Research

You can collect demographic information on the number of visitors entering your website, including where they came from and the products and services that interest them.

Summary

These are just some of the advantages of having your own business website. There are many more, including those that can be tailored specifically for your own product, service and business objectives.