Benefits of Website

More and more people and businesses use the Internet to find information, it is convenient and saves time. Having a website is becoming so mainstream that customers and the general public almost expect a company to have a website. If people want information on a product or service, they are now saying, "I think they have a website, I'll check that out first."

Below are just some of the benefits you can expect from a website:

Increases awareness of products/services

A website provides the opportunity to publish the who, what, where, when and why of your business in a powerful and effective manner.

How many potential customers might be saved if they could learn a little more about you, your company, your products, etc., without having to phone or taking the time to meet with you in person? A website makes it easy for customers to learn more about your business at their own pace.

Expands market place

A website can expand your reach to a market that may have been difficult or expensive to reach through traditional advertising. Increasingly, people search the Web rather than the Yellow Pages when looking for a service or product. You'd be amazed how much shopping occurs on the World Wide Web overnight! With an e-commerce site you can even make sales when your offices are closed. Currently over 75% of the people in the US access the Internet, up from over 40% at the end of 1999.

Increases hours of operation

Not only will your website be there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with the possibility of reaching millions of people every day, but now your customers are able to contact you outside of your normal business hours. Your website is still working for you while you are at leisure or asleep, and is not dependent on your having a PC or leaving your PC switched on.

Marketing tool - replace or complement existing sales and marketing channels

It's a very low-cost method of promoting your business. By advertising your website, in addition to your product or services, you give potential customers the opportunity to learn far more about your product or services than you could ever place in an ad. Advertising experts agree the Internet will become an increasingly popular advertising medium, with anticipated spending eclipsing $15 billion and have an 8% increased share of all advertising spending by 2005.

Reduce costs / Improve efficiency

1. Reduce publishing costs

One of the largest expenses a business can incur is designing, printing, and delivering marketing materials. Websites are quicker, easier and more cost-effective to update than print based media. You can keep your website more current, more affordably than any other media can.

With a website, you can instantly publish that same information: new product announcements, employment opportunities, contact information, coupons, almost anything, without material or delivery costs. People can learn about it instantly just by visiting your website. Imagine how much it would cost to produce a catalog for 200 different products, and keep it in consumers' hands for an entire year. You can accomplish this with a website very easily, with low development cost and almost no distribution cost.

2. Reduce marketing costs

Buying advertising space, whether it's a newspaper ad, billboard or radio spots, can be expensive. In addition is the burden of the hours spent trying to figure out the perfect words to say in a limited space. A website is an unlimited number of full-page ads that you can change at will!

3. Reduce communication costs

A website can do far more than sell products. You can have pictures, details and prices of your products/services, the very latest company information, hours of operation and maps indicating the location of your company's outlets on your website. It can supply your staff, suppliers and business partners with important and timely information. Just about any printed matter can be converted to a web page and distributed by email at far less cost and time than by fax, mail or courier.