If you are a start-up business and someone is trying to find out more about you but you have no website, where do they go? Your website should be your top salesperson and the best source for all reliable information about your company, your product lines, your services, or whatever your business is offering the public. If a new business or established business wants to thrive (and survive this economy) it needs to be visible, in all potential clients reach, with information quickly at their disposal. The first place they will look is on the internet! If you don't have a web site, someone who does will take those potential clients.
A website is an absolute must for each and every business. The first step is choosing a "domain name" for your site. Choosing your website name is critical to a marketing strategy. If you are fortunate enough to have a business name that is unusual and contains a brief description of your service, you may be able to use it just as it is. In any case, branding can be just as effective with a unique, memorable name. A few good examples would be "Google" or "Hoover", which have no descriptive nature whatsoever, but are known worldwide. So the choice is yours. Be creative and hope for the best or do your best to find an available name that includes your product or service name. This will assist in getting your site the SEO that gets it "ranked" higher in Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. Internet marketing can be tricky, but it's not impossible.
Pros of having a web site:
- Web presence; polls report that having a web presence makes you appear more legitimate.
- Begin to market immediately, potential to get business without cold calling, paying expensive rates for magazine or newspaper ads, or going door to door
- As a less expense long term investment than print, internet marketing can be very affordable and you can grow your web presence and contacts with a carefully written blog or newsletter (posted on your web site, of course)
- With a web site, you are open 24/7. This is great news if you are selling a product.
- You become viewable to the world. Keep an open mind, you may not be thinking of selling globally but once you launch your web site, you may find the opportunity.
- You can showcase your work. Not only can you market your products or services online, you can add client reviews for validation.
- No limit to creativity through the use of pictures, videos, newsletters, etc.
Cons
- Time! Be sure you don't spend your time trying to "keep up with the Joneses" with your web site. Present a well designed site and then go back to the art of doing business, creating client relationships and sales. If you can, let a professional take care of the ongoing process of attracting more people to your web site. This is referred to as "SEO" and stands for Search Engine Optimization.
- Expense. Gauge your needs and finances carefully. Some small business tell us they previously spent thousands of dollars on a web site design and now they don't have any money to pay bills, advertise, hire the people they need, buy product, etc. There are great salespeople out there and they would love to sell you a web site with bells and whistles. Be sure you invest wisely. Ask Alpha Solutions to help design something that stays within your means and still works effectively.
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