Whether you are an established company or a fresh startup, a professional website is essential to the growth and stability of your business. It is the hub for all your marketing efforts and should contain all of the information that a customer needs to make the decision to do business with your company.

Your Company’s Credibility

Gone are the days of Yellow Pages and Mom and Pop shops. In this day and age, people use the internet to base their decisions. With tools like Google and Yelp, customers make judgements well before ever stepping foot into your store. When a user is researching a company, the first thing they do is find your website. What they first see will form the basis of how they view your company. It is estimated that 75% of users will make judgements on a company’s credibility based on their website! Not only the design of the site, but the organization of content, social media integration and customer feedback will shape the impression your company leaves on every user.

Reaching a Wider Audience

If you are a business with a store-front, your customer reach is limited by your location, word of mouth and marketing efforts. Your location is referring to potential customers that will drive by your shop, which is a static reach. Word of mouth is a dynamic reach, but is limited to customers that have already experienced your business previously, which ultimately limits it’s reach. Your marketing efforts allow you to break free of any constraints and tap into an infinitely larger audience. Creating buzz using your website and social media interaction can draw customers from walks of life you never thought possible!

Saves Time and Money

Time is an important commodity in our fast paced world. We’re all familiar with the concept that time is money. When you correctly display your company’s information online, you save time you would otherwise be spending communicating to your potential customers. Imagine all of the sales you’ve missed because you were busy with a current customer. With a website, your communication line is open 24/7 and can reach an infinite number of users at once!

When compared with traditional advertising efforts, such as newspaper ads, commercials and networking events, which all have finite time to reach customers, a website is incredibly cost effective. Your website will forever be a sales tool and if you utilize an effective content management system or a blog like a WordPress site, you are able to easily add or change content on your own, without employing a design professional. Think of it like airing a TV commercial ad promoting your business — you have to pay every time the ad plays. Let’s say your business changes locations or has a new product to sell that you desperately want your customers to know about. You’re going to have to pay for these updates. With a website, you’re able to advertise any of this for free!

Improve Customer Service

With a well laid-out and documented website, your customer feedback and product advice will be constantly accessible online. Do customers constantly ask you the same question about a product? Have you found yourself explaining the same concepts? Are people always asking about a service you don’t offer anymore? This information will all be available, in an easy to find format, and will always be accessible.

The Bottom Line

We live in a society where people won’t wait 5 minutes to talk with someone directly, they need to be able to find what they need at the drop of a dime. Unless your company has hundreds of staff, ready to answer any question a customer has, then it is losing business! A professionally designed and organized website can be as effective as hiring a whole crew of staff, with a minimal investment and a lot less personal issues!

Have any other thoughts or concerns about a company needing a professional website? Leave comments below!