to have a presence in cyberspace? Is a website a money pit or money maker? These questions have been heatedly debated by Fortune 500 companies and small business alike. While there is no definitive answer, surveys of corporate executives and entrepreneurs indicate that websites enhance the bottom line. Here are our top ten reasons to establish an online outpost:
Increase customer support
Think of your website as a 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week branch office, always open for business to anyone with Internet access. Information you now distribute on paper or with telephone reps can be posted on your site, providing customers with all sorts of useful information: a searchable database of retailers who carry your products, maps and directions to your office, business hours, job postings, press releases, electronic instruction manuals, brochures and catalogs, answers to frequently asked questions and much more.
Offer new kinds of services
Are you in the brokerage business? How about electronic trading? Do you sell books? Encourage people to order online. Do your customers regularly call your office to have their questions answered? Let them e-mail you as well. You get the idea. The opportunities are only limited by your imagination and resourcefulness.
Create new relationships with your customers
If you’ve been online for a while, you’ve undoubtedly heard about electronic communities, groups of people with common interests and social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Think about creating a community around your product or service. If your company manufactures bicycle gear, initiate a group where your customers can discuss cycling; if your company provides financial services, consider an investment blog.
Offload responsibilities to your customers
Remember when you had to wait in line at a bank to get cash. Thanks to ATMs, those days are over forever. Banks now make you do much of the work of inputting data; in return there’s the convenience of around-the-clock banking. A website can help your business in much the same way. A textbook example is the FedEx website, where customers fill out shipping forms electronically and track packages. How did we ever live without it?
Perform market research
Your website can be a valuable source of data about your customers. By examining the traffic reports generated from your site, you can learn when they access the site, where they come from and which features they use.
You can actively solicit information by asking visitors to fill out online surveys. Many people are willing to do this, especially if you provide an incentive, such as an online coupon or discount on their next purchase. Be aware that people are often reluctant to give out personal information unless they know how it will be used, so be candid.
Reduce your costs
Saving money can be just as important as making it, right? Your website can do that by streamlining costs for customer service, including printing and postage, among other things. According to Forester Research, online orders are 4% more profitable than orders placed over the phone. If you don’t have to mail a catalog or have a phone rep take orders, how much will that save you?
Build brand awareness
According to Internet pundits, the World Wide Web is the first medium where you can build a brand and track the results. Remember, in most cases, your website is an extension of your real world business, so it should reflect your existing brand.
Reach new markets
The Internet spans the globe, allowing even the smallest company to offer its products and services internationally, an option once open
How important is it for your business
Create new business partnerships
A website is a wonderful way to create mutually beneficial relationships. For instance, a travel site might link to a travel agency and receive a commission when a referral generates new business. Likewise, a travel agency can link to a travel site so its clients can research their destination. It’s a win-win situation for both businesses.
Beat the competition
It may not be the best reason to build a site, but it’s certainly a valid one. Most business compete for customers. Does your competitor have a website? Then you need one too. More than keeping up, it can be the difference between staying in the game or going out-of-business.
RESOURCE: www.learnthenet.com
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