Why You Need a Website

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Even if you're not planning on selling online, a well-crafted site is essential for any business.

You may say my business is very small, just me and two employees, and our product really can't be sold online. Do I really need a website?

That's a good question. In fact, it's one of the most important and most frequently asked questions of the digital business age. Before I answer, however, let's flash back to the very first time I was asked this question. It was like 1998-1999, during the toddler years of the internet.

I was speaking on the impact of the internet on small business at an seminar back in 1998, which was decades ago in internet years, the future of e-commerce was anybody's guess, but even the most negative futurists agreed that all the signs indicated that a large portion of future business revenues would be derived from online transactions or from offline transactions that were the result of online marketing efforts.

So should your business have a website, even if your business is small and sells products or services you don't think can be sold online? My answer in 1998 is the same as my answer today: Yes, if you have a business, you should have a website. Period. No question. Without a doubt today if you want to be in business tomorrow.

Also, don't be so quick to dismiss your product as one that can't be sold online. Nowadays, there's very little that can't be sold over the internet. More than 30 million shoppers are now online, purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to jet airplanes to natural gas to you name it. If you can imagine it, someone will figure out how to sell it online.

Today the economy is slowing down with nobody knowing what is going to happen tomorrow. This just makes it more important that businesses get information about their business and products on the web. Web business has slowed very little, many cases it has picked up because people find that they can save money by sitting at home or work and compare products, then either buy online or go to that business to buy what they consider the best buy.

Let me clarify one point: I'm not saying you should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the internet, though if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you should certainly be considering it. The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the web (even a one page business locator) so that customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.

That said, it's not enough that you just have a website. You must have a professional-looking site if you want to be taken seriously. Since many consumers now search for information online prior to making a purchase at a brick-and-mortar store, your site may be the first chance you have at making a good impression on a potential buyer.

One of the great things about the internet is that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to competing with the big boys. As mentioned, you have one shot at making a good first impression. With a well-designed site, your little operation can project the image and professionalism of a much larger company. The inverse is also true. I've seen many big company websites that were so badly designed and hard to navigate that they completely lacked professionalism and credibility. Good for you, too bad for them.

It does not matter that yours is a small operation, when it comes to benefiting from a website, size does not matter. I don't care if you're a one-man show or a 10,000-employee corporate giant; if you don't have a website, you're losing business to other companies that do.

Here's the exception to my rule: It's actually better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad. Your site speaks volumes about your business. Most people do not have the skills that are needed to put togather a good business site and have it so it can be found by potential customers. The do it yourself no webpage knowledge methods are better left for personal use. Your site either says, "Hey, look, we take our business so seriously that we have created this wonderful professional site for our customers!" or it screams, "Hey, look, I or my 12-year-old nephew designed my site. Good luck finding anything!"

Your website is an important part of your business. Take it seriously and make sure you treat it as such.


The above article was put together by Joe Goetsch with sources of information from the web.
Joe has been building websites for 12 years and is completly self taught, having not taken any coarses. He has built sites for real estate, sporting goods, health and healing, sport arenas, churches, schools, ranches, gift shops, jewelry shops, chambers of commerce, restuarants, historical associations and more.