Is it necessary all businesses have a website and how much money should they invest in it?
October 18th, 2009 by Bruce
All companies will benefit from some presence on the internet, even if it is only a simple listing on a site such as yell.com or one of the other business directory sites. That way, even if customers would not contemplate ordering your product or service over the net at least they can find your address details so that they can pop in.
It may be that a little more information would be of use to the customer, say for example you are a wedding shop the chances of a bride buying a dress from you over the internet are slender but she may very well want to know a few things about your business before deciding whether to pop in. Times of opening will be important as will knowing if a meeting is required. She may also want to find out what price range of dresses you sell, which designers you work with and whether you sell accessories, bridesmaid dresses etc. All of this information means that a small 3 or 4 page website would be well received by a customer base who are more and more used to locating what they want on the internet.
That said, the business you will attract will still be comparatively local as people will come to visit you in person so there is no requirement to spend huge amounts on listing the full range of your stock, having images of everything taken and offering a “buy on line” service available. The cost of a useful simple information website should only be a few hundred pounds and there is no need to spend on Online Marketing or worry about your Search Engine Placement as customers will search for you via your shop name.
Other businesses, whose customer base is more suited to national or international sales will need to invest heavily in their website if they are to tap into the potential of the net. If we look at a business that sells car windscreen wipers on line we can see the difference straight awat. If the customer knows that the wipers she spots on the website will fit her car and that they are a reasonable price she will buy from wherever she is. This could mean national and international purchases for the company that they would simply not get from having a shop on a high street. Money spent on Online Marketing provided by a Search Engine Optimization Company is however in this illustration crutial. If you do not have a good search engine position none of those potential customers will find you as they will not know you by name; so outlay in both site development and Search Engine Placement is crutial.
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