Why have a web page?
If you’ve gotten this far, you’re at least contemplating establishing a website for yourself, your organization or company. What are the advantages of having a website, and why might you need one?
Communication:
- tell customers who you are
- list your products and services
- explain what you stand for
- describe your organization's history
- let customers know
- establish a sense of your qualities: Is your business:
- reliable?
- traditional?
- high-tech?
- offbeat and funky?
- well-known? or off the beaten track?
- strong on personal service?
- unique among its competitors?
All of these qualities and more can be identified in your website. The content, the visual appearance, the ease of navigation, and the features offered in your website will convey an overall impression for your potential customers.
Web sites can also be created for personal reasons - to share family news and photos, for instance. Recently, many have been turning to the web to post information about upcoming weddings, give directions to the reception, link to gift registries, and accept RSVPs. Birth announcements on the web are also a new-age phenomenon.
Marketing:
With a web site you can:
- Reach a defined geographical market
- Expand your horizons to national and international customers
- Advertise your business at a rate much less than in newspapers, TV or radio
- Make your online campaign respond instantly to changes in your business
- Frequently change or add to your content so users will return often
To be sure, just because you have a website is no assurance that the customers will come to you. That’s where Search Engine Optimization can help.
Information:
- Inform customers of the latest changes, additions and improvements
- Update users on new products or services
- Let customers "meet" your staff
- Maintain calendars of changing events
- Post instructions, tips or manuals for your users
- Conduct polls, a bulletin board or blog to let your customers speak to you
- Provide information at a time convenient for the customer - 24/7
Give Assistance:
- Give your customers something they want and can use - free downloads, information, tips
- Share links and sources of information useful to your customers
- Help troubleshoot problems your clients encounter
- Make it easier for you and your customers to exchange information
- Make communication safe, quick and more secure than mail or fax
- Provide contact information, maps to your location, list your business hours
Competition:
- Reach customers who otherwise might not ever hear of your company
- Expand your business beyond your immediate geographic range
- Maintain a web presence, just like many of your competitors do
- Respond instantly to market changes, new product lines or enhance services
- Online revenues are now in excess of $200 billion.
- Online consumers are growing by 30-50% annually.
- More than half of all internet users shop online.
You must be online to be found online!
Establish your identity:
- Establish a clear corporate identity through the use of a well-designed website
- Let graphics, colors, and site organization work for you
- Strut your stuff - let clients know who you are and why they should do business with you
There are as many reasons for establishing and maintaining a website as there are businesses and organizations. You know better than anyone how a website can work for you.
So ... are you ready to hire a professional web designer?