October 25, 2019

You’ve established your marketing budget…now what?

It’s time to decide what marketing strategies will give you the best return on your investment.

Because of the internet age we live in, it seems the most logical marketing strategy would be to invest in a professional and attractive internet presence; still, many businesses have a poorly designed website or no site at all.

Registering at some DIY website and uploading text, pictures, and a logo is not what will attract business in the end.

Sure, you may get lucky and get some business; however, in order to effectively attract new business and get return customers, you must have a high quality, professional website.

Below are eight reasons why you need a website.

1. The Website is Usually the First Point of Contact for New Customers

Usually, when a person is in search of products or services, the first thing he or she will do jump on the Internet and go straight to a search engine, such as Google.

For no other reason, this is why every business needs, at a minimum, a website with their services and/or products, physical location, phone, and a contact form or email address.

The reason for the contact form or email address is because some people are hesitant to call a business because they fear high-pressure selling tactics.

Instead, they are willing to fill out a short contact form or send an email, asking their questions.

This is the business first opportunity to reach a potential customer, that, otherwise, may have fallen through the cracks, without a good website.

2. A Website Gives Your Business A Global Presence

Everyone knows McDonald’s is all around the world without having to go to their website, but chances are, your business is not as large as McDonald’s.

If you have a well-designed website, optimized to rank high on the major search engines, then you can still have a global presence just like McDonald’s.

You may not have the brick and mortar stores, but you may have customers reaching out to you from all over the globe.

3. 24/7 Access to Your Business

With a good website, your customers literally have access to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means while you are sleeping, you may have sales or inquiries about your goods or services.

Since you will be reaching people in different time zones, it’s a good idea to state on your website when customers can expect to hear back from you.

4. Collecting Data From Visitors

By now, most people know when visiting a good website, the business is likely tracking browsing patterns.

Another popular merchant tool is to have a blog that visitors can subscribe to, which will let them get notifications of updates.

What does all this mean for your business?

This means that when you have a properly designed website and spend money on advertising, you can track how well the advertising campaign works, by knowing exactly how many people follow the ad, and what they do once they are on your site.

Do they land on the website and stay awhile, or get out quickly? Did this ad work…or is it possibly time to try a different approach?

In regards to subscribers, you can use the collected email addresses to build a mailing list to send emails directly to potential customers who showed an interest in your business. You can send things, such as sales flyers or coupons.

5. It’s Relatively Cheap

Maintaining your website isn’t going to cost you that much compared to other forms of marketing like placing an advertisement in a magazine or on TV. There are websites which are completely free but in these, you don’t get to have your own domain name.

However, even websites which aren’t free are quite inexpensive. The only place you’ll have to pay is to get the website professionally designed.

And this can be worth it because, in the mind of your customer, your website is a representation of who you are as a company.

6. It Helps Create Your Brand

When a customer comes to your website, they’re trying to find out what you re all about. Are you fun and flirty?

Are you serious and reliable? Or are you creative yet sophisticated? Everyone has a certain image that they want to invoke in the minds of their customers. And your website can help you to do this.

It can help you to present yourself and your product/service in a way that will be beneficial to your company in the long run.

7. It Helps You to Express Yourself

You may not think that you have any burning desire to express yourself, as an entrepreneur. But if you stop to think about it, there must be some reason why you set up your company and started making your product.

You must have an opinion or a point of view about what’s going on in your field. Your website is your place to tell people what you’re all about.

8. It’s Better than Social Media

Many people think that social media is the best way to market their company. It’s easy to see the results of social media. You get “followers.” You get “likes.’ And both, your followers and your likes keep increasing as time goes on.

So the results of social media are measurable.

On the other hand, you may not get that many visitors to your website. And out of the visitors that you do get, not that many might end up buying your product.

So you might wonder if its worth your while spending the money required to keep up your website. The answer is a resounding yes.

Now You Know Why You Need a Website

In conclusion, it is essential to have a high-quality website that serves as an easy way for customers to contact you.

It is equally important to know why you need a website; it will give you a global presence; makes your business available 24/7; and will allow you to use your advertising dollars more effectively, based on collected visitor data.

Source: USA TODAY 

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