Since the introduction to the internet, a complete change has occurred in the way people shop and search for the information they need. According to Statista in 2017, an estimated 1.66 billion people worldwide purchased goods online with global e-retail sales amounting to 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars and projections show a growth of up to 4.48 trillion U.S. dollars by 2021. With this much consumer buying power, it is important for any business to have an online presence to stay competitive within its industry.
Immediate Communication
Once a company has a website, it opens them to instantly communicate with their customers. Whether it’s sales or new products your business website can be used to instantly. Eliminate the need to send out overpriced mailings and flyers. An additional important factor is the integration of social media. As you create content that may help a potential customer, you can use social media to instantly broadcast to thousands of potential customers.
Cost Savings
When compared to other advertising techniques, it is fairly inexpensive to maintain a business website. Bearing in mind the power of a business website, the ROI or return-on-investment is higher than other advertising channels. A website should be used as a sales tool to explain products and services while generating leads. If compared to a salary of an employee and the cost of purchasing sales collateral, it’s a fraction of the cost.
Attract New Customers
The number one reason for a professional mobile-friendly website is the potential to attract new clientele. As potential consumers search the internet, your business’s products, services or information, will be fully accessible where otherwise they may not have even know your business exists.
Tell Customer Who and Where You Are
Having a functioning website is essential even for a local small business. According to a study by Nielsen, 85 percent of consumers use the internet to find a local business. Without a mobile-friendly website, customers may not be able to contact or locate your business. Another problem is search engines like Google for example are greatly influenced by local results, making a website even more important if you are a local business.
Around-the-Clock Access
Consumers can now shop online around-the-clock, with the help from the internet. Without a good business website a business cannot reach all of their potential customers, it will allow customers to shop or research your company any hour of the day. A great example is our website; we usually receive 2 to 3 leads overnight while we are all sleeping. This would not be possible without a website.
Improved Customer Service
Typically a business website will include a contact us section (All OC Ad Site websites do) this gives your customers instant access to ask a question, or alert you to a problem with your goods or services. This will give you the ability to provide prompt feedback to the customer and improve your customer service approval. Many creative features can be added to your website to improve your customer’s experience including a simple contact form so they may contact you with questions, an FAQ page for frequently asked questions, or even a live chat for immediate satisfaction.
Know Your Customers
With e-commerce websites, you will have the ability to track views of different products to see who is making purchases and which products. With all websites you can collect additional valuable information that will allow you to better target your current and potential customers.
Customer Convenience
Today, commerce and information are instantaneous, consumers like their shopping experience to be quick and easy. This is why more and more consumers are online shopping more and more finding it a more convenient way to shop for everything. Mail order is a thing of the past and more local businesses are closing because their online presence is slim or none at all. The same goes for business websites with services, people want to be able to find everything from the browser on their phone and if you are not there the other guy will get the business.
Low Maintenance
After a business website is set up, it requires very little maintenance to keep up on day-to-day. This makes it easy to advertise your products and services without taking away time from the daily tasks of your business. With that being said, this doesn’t mean you can abandon your website altogether. Automatic backups can be setup and you and manually update your plugins and themes but a content strategy should be put in place so the website doesn’t become stale.
It is now easy to see the impertinence of a business website in the modern world. It will be difficult to remain competitive in today’s growing market and almost impossible to generate more customers.