Reasons why your small business needs a website

Reasons why your small business needs a website
10/19/2008 12:02 AM
What can a website do for your small business? A better question may be what it cannot do. The Internet has become so pervasive in our daily lives that nearly every kind of business, regardless of size, service or clientele, can benefit from having a presence on the Web. Here are a few reasons:

4Facilitate communications. With e-mail, you can communicate with customers, suppliers and partners anywhere in the world.

424/7 availability. Current customers can contact you any time of day from any time zone. Prospective customers may browse your site at their convenience to learn about your company and the products and services it offers.

4Reach a global clientele. Because the Internet is used by millions worldwide, you can reach potential customers without opening shop overseas. Translation software makes your website available to a wider range of visitors.

Here are some steps to get you started on developing a small business website:

4Decide if you want to hire a web designer or create your own site. If you want to hire someone, search the web for possible candidates. If you want to do it yourself, there are many helpful books available about web publishing.

4Apply for a domain name. There are several services that will register you and put on the right search engines. A search on www.google.com or www.yahoo.com will help you identify directories of domain names that are already reserved or in use.

4Organize and outline all of the information that you want on your website.

4Choose a look for your site. Visit other sites to get ideas but, remember, your site is a marketing tool. Use your brand identity - don't stray from the look your customers are familiar with.

4Provide a service as well as a presentation about your company and its product. Give your customers some helpful tips or advice and gently steer them toward buying your product.

4Make it easy to use. Otherwise, visitors will lose patience and go elsewhere.

4Market it. Along with getting registered on the major search engines, send out traditional and electronic press releases to alert the public about your site. Develop mutual link partnerships with other companies. Update your content constantly. You want your visitors to visit more than once, so give them a reason to come back.

To learn more about developing a website for your company, contact the SCORE Association "Counselors to America's Small Business." SCORE is a nonprofit organization of more than 10,500 volunteer, business counselors who provide free and confidential information to veteran entrepreneurs and those just starting out. If you are starting or growing your business, call SCORE at the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce at 641-1111 or the Greater North Augusta Chamber of Commerce at 279-2323 for free, confidential business counseling advice.


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