Every so often, I come across an established business that still doesn’t have a website. For one reason or another, some business owners don’t think they need a website for “their kind of business”. And while that might be true for a handful of businesses I can think of, the vast majority of companies could greatly benefit from having a website, especially if that website is setup in such a way that makes it easy for the business owner (or staff) to use without spending months learning HTML and so on. Here are just a few ways that a website can be a key component to your business success.
1. Market Your Products and Services – The first and most obvious is way is that a website helps you market your products and services. More and more people are searching online first when looking for companies to do business with, even for local businesses where you might expect phone books or other traditional sources to be used more often. If you can make a case for being in the phone book, you should definitely be online as well.
2. Educate Your Market – Unless you sell a low-cost service or commodity product, you’ll probably need to educate your customer a bit before they decide to make a purchase. No matter what the product or service, a website is a great way to educate your market about how to purchase whatever it is that you offer and help them understand why your company is the best choice for that purchase. You can also demonstrate the value your product or service offers, which is especially helpful for higher-priced items that might otherwise cause sticker shock unless that price is adequately justified.
3. Establish Expertise – For most businesses (and especially those that charge higher fees), people generally want to know that they’re dealing with an expert in their field. A website can be a great way to demonstrate your expertise through publishing articles, before and after photos, videos or other types of content.
4. Provide “Social Proof” - Social proof is simply the idea that all of us are more likely to believe what someone else says about you and your company versus what you say about your company. A website is a fantastic way to provide this “social proof” through the form of testimonials. If you have an established business, you probably already have plenty of testimonials you could use on your website (or could easily get testimonials). This would go a long way to separating your business from the competition and helping to establish your credibility. Speaking of which…
5. Establish Credibility – A website helps your credibility in a number of ways. First, re-read those sections on establishing expertise and social proof. But those are just a couple of ways. The other thing to keep in mind is that these days, people expect a “real business” to have a website, with its own website address (not a site hosted on some freebie service). People seeing your newspaper ad or other advertising may want to visit your website to see examples of your work, learn about your process or request more info. Not having a website might make you seem like a “less serious” business than the competition.
6. Provide Customer Support - Your website can also serve as a customer support aid. By publishing information like frequently asked questions or having web forms that allow customers to contact you in a non-interruptive way, you can take back control over some of your time while still addressing your customers’ requests for assistance, questions and so on.
7. Stay “Top of Mind” – It’s more expensive to get new customers than it is to keep existing customers. So it’s a good idea to stay “top of mind” with your satisfied customers and even your prospects. A few ways of doing this include using email marketing, blogging or having a customer message board. All of these are great ways to keep your customers coming back to you and your site over and over again and keeping your business on their minds. You never know when they might come across a friend that could benefit from your services or when they’ll need to purchase from you again.
