If you believe that your business does not need a website because it is "just a small business", then think again! Every single small business and independent operator, even if it caters exclusively to the local market, has to be visible on the web these days.
Whether you run a retail store, a restaurant, a pool-cleaning business or a day-care center, or if you are a dentist, a part-time piano teacher or a personal trainer, you will lose out if you don't have a website.
If You're Not on the Web, You Don't Exist!
These days, we are relying more and more on the internet as our primary source of information. For many people, the internet has also come to replace the Yellow Pages as the most convenient way to locate nearby stores and businesses. Instead of having to drive or walk to local stores during opening hours, we can sit at home in front of our computers and find whatever we need at any time of the day or night. The major search engines report that local search activity is growing faster now than general search.
Consumers expect to find whatever they need on the web, and often don't bother to look at other sources once they find something that seems to fit their requirements. To many, this means that if they cannot see your business on the internet, you simply do not exist!
On top of the convenience factor, high gasoline prices are changing consumer behavior. People are realizing that they can save money as well as time by using the internet to do their research on local businesses before heading out of the house.
Online Searches Lead to Offline Purchases
As well as searching for general information on a subject, people are increasingly using the web to find details and reviews of products and services they are thinking of buying. This is true of purchases that are later made in traditional, bricks-and-mortar stores as well as online.
A Nielsen Online news release (Internet Strategy Essential to Offline Retail, July 22, 2008) details a May 2008 survey that found that 80 percent of respondents who had recently bought electronic products from a local retailer had visited that store's website beforehand.
The survey also asked which single source of information people would use to support their next consumer electronics purchase. The majority, 58 percent, said that they would rely on the internet for their product research, while 25 percent would visit local stores.
These findings show that it is vital for retailers and other businesses to use the internet to promote themselves and drive offline sales, even if they are not actually selling online. The best way to do this is to set up a website on your own domain, rather than just a bare-bones free listing on someone else's directory.
Short and Sweet Can Work Well For Small Business Websites
An effective business website does not need to be long and complicated. For a small business or independent operator, a simple but well planned 3-7 page site can be quite adequate. In addition to providing contact details and information about your products or services, you should make your website interactive. You can easily set it up to gather customer data and send out information such as newsletters, answers to queries about your products, and quotations for services.
The most important thing is that you provide clear and relevant information and make the site user-friendly, so that visitors leave with a sense that your business offers a high level of information and service. This will help ensure that as many visitors as possible become paying customers before long.