Investing in a good website
Investing in your website must be at the top of your business’ agenda when it comes to marketing and sales activity. Your website is your best tool and a round the clock way of being able to sell what it is you do and a way of being able to take your business in to new and other markets too. An optimised SEO strategy can promote organic growth. You can utilize your website to tell your story and as a means to get new leads – and best of all, sales. There are no end of ways a good website can help you.
When people need to look for product information, they head to the Internet and look for a well designed, product knowledgeable site. The business world is a very competitive place, if you want to be successful, investing in a solid online presence is a must. But it can’t just be an online presence. Your website is an extension of your brand and as such. It needs to represent what you sell and what you stand for. So off of this it is key for you – and any other business owner to be sure to remember this point too.
A website is an investment
People treat their websites like a drain on resources, money that has to be spent. Also as an expense that should be cut down for the benefit of the business. That’s completely backwards thinking. If that’s how you’re treating your website you’d probably be better of saving the money and getting rid of it altogether. Websites are an investment. Web design as a service is also an investment too. You don’t spend money on them because you “have” to. You spend money on them because doing so will get you more business back out of them. When you treat your website like an expense, you get a bad website. You get one that doesn’t give back to you, and it is a drain.
When you treat it like an investment, you get something you can measure. You also get something that brings in more money than it costs. That’s not an expense, that’s a money maker. It is key in this sense to hire in a good quality website design agency. They will be able to then take care of everything for you.
The overall role of a website for your business
When considering their website, many business owners fall at the first hurdle, failing to understand what a website is even for. Simply knowing it’s “necessary” they go ahead and set it up, then forget about it, or let someone else manage it without much thinking about goals or purpose. To properly make use of your website, you need to understand what it’s for, what it’s doing for you and how you intend to use it.
The short version is this: a website is there to bring more customers in from further afield; to give them an easy way to see your services at their own leisure; to give them the information they need, when they need it; and to present yourself in the way you want to be seen. Your website is your shop window, your marketing, your customer service and your PR ambassador, all in one. If that’s not important, then what is?
The perfect way to be able to build your brand
While you’re at it, your website is a place where you get to talk more about yourself. You’re in complete control of the message you give out, and it’s the perfect opportunity to build your brand. Let people see you the way you want to be seen. An empty, poorly built or difficult to use website that lacks investment reflects badly on your business and brand. It shows you as a company that doesn’t even care about itself, let alone its customers. A well designed site that looks after customer needs shows a brand that cares for its customers. A website with good copy that reinforces brand ideals builds you up even further.
Overall
At first a novelty, little better than an online resume or a source of bragging rights, websites eventually became businesses in their own right. If you are going to be seen and head you need this to all be done in the best possible way. This is in fact key for any business and vital if they are going to be able to grow. It is also key if they are going to be able to be taken seriously too.
