Notebook
Business on the web
With the web′s rapid expansion, increase in users and consistency across browsers it has matured enough to be taken seriously be corporations who have already positioned themselves and continue to reap the benefits of the medium. Below you will find five reasons on why a small business owner should consider having a web site:
1) Establishing the company′s credibility.
A web site can increase the company′s credibility by establishing itself as an information source for the users. For example, writing articles and blogging about the business (giving advice, talking about trends, telling about the product, and so on). First of all this would take the company down to earth from Mount Olympus and educate the client about the service or product and secondly this can turn a frequent visitor into a client because he wants to take full advantage of the service.
At the same time web users are impatient and only a few seconds separate them from click the Back button. In a worst case scenario, a badly developed web site can hurt the company′s credibility and can turn away potential clients.
2) Delegation
You are a businessman who enjoys working in the industry, whether it′s choosing the company′s direction in the future or improving an existing product. Once in a while you get stuck in the routine of educating new and potential clients about your service or product and if business is booming than you get stuck doing uninteresting things. You can ease the burden by delegating the task to the web site. Simply by posting information about the company, services or products offered and providing a page for frequently asked questions will speed things up two ways — clients can find what they need in less time and you have more time left to pursue important and creative tasks of your work.
3) Web compared to other mediums.
Brochures are expensive to print and costly to change. Newspaper advertisements are also expensive and are limited by the space on paper. Where the old mediums fail the web succeeds. The maximum cost to host a simple, small business site can cost less than $200 a year and changes can be performed in seconds.
4) Business 24/7 and Globalization
The major advantage of the web is that business is available at any time and any place for anyone. The physical location of a company becomes less important when business is conducted over the web.
5) Small start-up cost
A big budget is not required for a successful web site. Business owners can start out with a simple site and expand it when more complex features will be required. It is important to notice that maintenance is the key to unlocking revenue from the web. You can compare a recently designed web site to a start up business. Just because a recent employee quit his job and started a business does not mean he is going to be making money and become instantly rich. The same idea applies on the web with one exception — time. It takes several years for a business to break through and start making profits whereas a carefully maintained site can provide successful marketing stream in a few weeks.
Conclusion
To recap, a successfully implemented web site can:
- Increase company′s credibility and gain user trust
- Take care of the routine and leave more time for business owners
- Cut costs and marketing considerably
- Attract users from anywhere at any time
Corporations know this well. Google and Amazon are in a perpetual cycle of updating, renewing and improving and gaining new clients. What was that share price of Google again? It′s time for small business owners to consider having a business web site themselves.