You Need A Website Just To Exist
New research from a joint Nielsen Online and Webvisible survey found that 44% of
small businesses don't have a website despite many people, like me, turning to search engines first for local small business information. That means that 56% of every small businesss competitors, HAVE a website that visitors can find.
There may be many reasons for not having a website. Cost, difficulty, not knowing where to start, finding a decent provider, or even thinking they don't need a website.
Its a fact that 59% of the population use the internet at least once, every single day, and a massive 74% of the population use the internet to look for services(some research says 80%). It stands to reason then, that if you dont have a website, you are invisible to three quarters of the population. Dont fall into the trap of thinking that these internet users are all under the age of 50. Nielsen Online and Webvisible have discovered that 60% of the population over the age of 50 and 65+ use the internet regularly, and this figure is increasing.
There are great benefits to having a website; A professionally designed website is one of the best ways to instill confidence in your new customers who are not familiar with your company already or even increase the confidence of your existing customer base. It gives the customer the impression that they are dealing with a firm they can trust and will generate a sense of respectability with your service and/or product. It also shows you care about and respect your customers by informing them and keeping them up to date with your products and services. People dont use the yellow pages as much as you think and many small businesses refer to the overpriced print pages as a dead form of advertising. Almost every employee in the country that gets paid more than 15,000/year has a computer at their desk and a whopping 85% of them have their own personal PC while few have a copy of the yellow pages nearby. As habit, they will simply type in Hair Salon Emsworth in Google long before they hunt down a copy of the yellow pages. Of that 85% an overwhelming majority of searchers (92%) say they are happy with the results they get when using search engines, despite the fact that 39% report frequently not being able to locate a particular known business. Webvisible say this means that while searchers dont always find the specific business (no online advertising/no website, etc.), they may choose to contact a similar business with a stronger online presence e.g. has a website.
Even those using Internet Yellow pages or similar directories, say that they will only contact a company that has a website linked to by that directory because they want information and its quicker than phoning up for info or a brochure.
You can pitch your product and answer questions by providing good website copy. By allowing your visitors to contact you through the website, they can ask specific questions, request quotes, reserve tables, hotel rooms; all 24/7 at their convenience.
It allows you to show your commitment and brand personality by replying to those queries in an appropriate timely fashion. You can also make big overhead savings by allowing visitors to download documents directly from your website rather than mailing printed materials.
Without a website, you simply may not exist to 30% of the average consumer.
Before you look back at all of your current success and totally disregard what I am saying just hear me out on this. Its 5:00pm, Friday evening and I have to get my hair cut this weekend. I go to Google or Yahoo (other search engines are available!) and type in: Haircut Chichester. The first two resulting links all look great. I look at their hours, their location, they arent too far away although Ill have to drive out there, I read a little about the company and theyve been in business for over 10 years, their experience is great, so I pick up the phone and make an appointment.
What I didnt know though is that you run a Hairdressers just a few hundred yards from where Ill be having lunch tomorrow. I didnt know that because your website either didnt come up in the search engine or perhaps you do not have a website at all.
For me and many other consumers, you didnt even exist when I was making a decision on whom to do business with.
To exist in todays market, you need a website
by: Neil Holley Williams
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