Most businesses today realise the value of having a professional, responsive and easy to navigate website. Whether you’re a sole trader, a small business, a franchise or not-for-profit organisation, in today’s world having some kind of online presence is vital to your success.
If you’ve been thinking about having your own website, but have so far resisted the urge to take the plunge, we’ve put together a few good reasons why you should take the leap and get your business online. With over two billion people using the internet everyday, if you don’t have a website you’re actually missing out on a highly powerful sales and marketing tool. Not only that, but it’s affordable too.
Okay, so having a website might sound scary, daunting or difficult. But it really isn’t. And better still, a website is one of the easiest ways to get your name out there – without having to spend a fortune on marketing.
So let’s take a look at a few reasons why a website makes great sense for you and your business.
It’s an affordable way to market your business
Affordable. One of our favourite words. We don’t believe a small business should have to spend a small fortune to get their website up and running. There are of course online services that provide templates for free website. But we’re big believers in that old saying: you get what you pay for. If you’re looking to create a professional, credible online presence, do you really think a free website is going to pass muster? No, neither do we. A professionally designed responsive website with engaging, well written search engine friendly content doesn’t have to cost the earth.
Think of a website as an online brochure
As much as we love the feel and smell of 300 gsm paper, printing has become ridiculously expensive. Rather than creating business cards, brochures and flyers, which you’re probably going to have to distribute yourself, once your website is up and running, you’ll have this wonderful piece of digital real estate to direct clients and customers to. Oh, and it’s better for the environment.
Websites are great for brand building
A brand will help you win over new customers – and retain them. A website is an extension of your brand. It’s an important part of your business’s brand identity and the most visible face of your brand. Remember first impressions count. A well designed user friendly website will appeal to potential new customers and give you the opportunity to create the best first impression for your business. We only get so many opportunities to impress.
Always open for business
Websites don’t have lunch breaks or holidays. They rarely get ill. They don’t have set opening hours, and unlike an office or business premises, you won’t have to be on site and it doesn’t need locking up at the end of the working day either. Think of a website as 24/7 advertising. It will work hard for you every hour of the day and every day of the year.
It’s instant credibility for your business
These days you don’t need a shop or an office to promote and sell goods and services. A website can do all that for you. So bye bye expensive overheads. Remember how we said over two billion people use the internet daily? It’s a fact that more people than ever before are turning to the internet to buy products and look for services. Why? Because it’s much easier and faster and more convenient. If you haven’t got a good website, just think of all the potential customers you could be losing to your competitors?
Attract more customers and clients
Whether you’re selling a product or a service, to make any sort of sale you first need customers. To get customers, you need to promote yourself. A professionally designed website is a great promotional platform. As a medium on which to showcase your work and what you do, here you have the perfect opportunity to outshine your competition. Testimonials, an online portfolio or gallery of work can all help you to stand out from the crowd.
Websites create measurable results
You will be able to check the number of visitors to your website and, in the case of an ecommerce website, record the number of online sales. It’s important to measure website traffic and where your visitors are coming from. Once you’ve armed yourself with this valuable information, it will help you to improve your website and visitor experience.
Websites can save you money
We like saving money as much as we like making it – and spending it! Websites as a form of advertising are much, much cheaper than radio and television advertising. Placing an advert in a newspaper or magazine will cost you more without nowhere near the same kind of reach. Factor in the cost and the potential exposure, websites are the most cost-effective way to promote your business.
Your competition most likely has one
Generally, we don’t believe in following the crowd. Just because that’s what everyone else is doing, doesn’t mean you have to. But websites are a good exception to that rule. It’s a bit of a dog eat dog world out there. If your competitor has a website and you don’t, you’re the one losing out. Sorry, but it’s true. Smart businesses recognise the value websites can bring to the table.
At TAD Graphics, we offer a range of affordable web and graphic design services. We design great looking websites that are responsive, customer friendly (easy to navigate!) and more over, affordable websites to give you a voice in the online world.
Whether you’re an individual, a small business or a medium sized company, we’d love to help you with your website project. What have you got to lose? Drop us a line and we’ll happily provide you with a free quote. If you want to meet up too, that’s great. We love informal chats over coffee and cake. We’re also quite partial to biscuits too. But never both. We’re not that greedy!
