Start Up Sunday Week 4 Website or no Website?

Welcome to the fourth instalment of our Start-up Sunday series. Today we will discuss the benefits a website may provide to your business.

We have done considerable research individually and collectively over the last months and years and have found many important reasons to have a website.

Firstly, websites can be a key part in promoting your companies name. The Internet provides equal access to all users, you could be a small work-from-home company set up with £100 or a multi-million pound national company and the size of screen you have to convey your message is the same. A well designed website can be set up for very little outlay; one even created on a shoestring budget but with a little flair and an eye to giving the customer what they want will give a better impression than a badly designed website, even if it did cost hundreds or thousands of pounds.

When compared to more traditional marketing methods such as print or radio media, promoting your website is relatively inexpensive. Websites have one distinct advantage over printed adverts which can often become outdated very quickly. As new products and services are introduced, printed materials need revised and reprinted adding costs to your budget. Websites offer the opportunity to provide your customers with up-to-date information when they need it, and allow you the freedom to update the information on your products, services and information when necessary.

With a web site, you can build a customer/user database to save contact and demographic information about people who visit your website. This can enable you to gain a better understanding of who your online visitors are, and create complimentary marketing strategies (direct mailings, etc.) customised to their interests. This is also a great way to keep in touch with customers who have purchased your products, leaving you the ability to send a follow-up email, or occasionally sending them information about new products.

One of the greatest features of the Internet is the ability to link to other websites, and, more importantly, have them link to yours. This allows customers to find your web site through several different channels, increases the potential for building traffic to your site, and essentially provides free advertising for your business or organisation.

For those of you who are members of the Creation|Collaboration forum, why not add a link to your website to your signature. If you are not a member of the new and revised forum please join us here.

From a customer service perspective, having a website is one of the easiest and best ways to interact with your customer.  Your website is a great place to publish your own list of "Frequently Asked Questions", or even the rarely asked ones. Well thought out questions and answers, in as much detail as you like, and exactly as you'd like it stated, can provide your customers with immediate help with their question, as well as provide prospective customers with a reference tool. Additionally, you can provide up-to-date information, such as postage times/prices, product specifications, or available dates, allowing your customers immediate access to such information, and possibly saving yourself the cost of extra technical support staff.  A website is a great way to get immediate feedback from your customers, through customer surveys, contact forms, and email addresses for your contact personnel. This type of feedback can allow you to provide great customer service based on what your customers really want!

With the ability to get a basic website for literally nothing you really would be mad not to create an online presense for your organisation.