With the booming of the internet in the last decade, big changes happened to communication and media. However, many businesses in the Middle East are still depending on the traditional ways to succeed. These same companies are staying behind their competitors who jumped on the internet bandwagon. So building a website and investing in creating an online presence for your business is no longer optional as it used to be 10 to 15 years ago. If you are still skeptical, we are here to advise you otherwise as you are missing on the following advantages offered by the web.

Being accessible at all times, even after working hours:

The internet never sleeps, and it’s users seem to spend more and more time online. Therefore, having a website gives your potential customers the opportunity to fall on your products and services, and get in contact with you even outside working hours. Also, if you are a retailer, consider building an ecommerce website that allows you to complete sales and get paid at any moment. Interested customers don’t have to wait till the next day for your brick-and-mortar shop to open and make an in-store purchase.

Reaching a wider customer audience:

With 2.5 billion people accessing the internet, the world wide web has definitely the widest community. Whether your target market is limited to a specific country or not, your online presence will allow you reach more consumers than brick-and-mortar and traditional marketing. For example, if you are a travel agency targeting the Middle East, building a website and promoting it online will be more cost effective and will require less human resources. Unlike a website, opening several branches for your agency restricts your business to specific geographical areas.

Targeting users that fit your customers profiling:

To reach your business objectives, you should first know and understand your customers, then communicate to them. The advantage of the internet over traditional media, is that it allows you to target specific users that are most likely to convert into customers. When placing a commercial on TV, on a billboard or in a magazine, your audience involves any person who randomly sees your ad. However, advertising your business website on Facebook or Google allows you to target a relevant audience by specifying age, gender, interests (sports, fashion, business…), or those looking for similar businesses, or visiting specific websites, and more.

Building a recognizable brand:

An online presence is more than just having a website with the necessary information about your business. It’s about putting yourself in the market to become familiar among your audience. People prefer to deal with recognizable brands rather than unknown ones. Therefore, to become more reliable and pull customers toward your business, promote your website online by creating and maintaining an identity across all platforms that will make you recognizable.

Developing a trustworthy brand:

In this digital era, the first place consumers head to gather more information and tips about your offering is the internet. They refer to it to find reviews given by past customers, articles written about you and other news related to your business. Therefore, make sure to always keep your customers happy and preserve a positive image. Otherwise, negative reviews and news will dissuade consumers from dealing with you. Let’s take the example of hotel booking. Before taking the decision on which to choose for their stay or holidays, users access websites like Trip Advisor to check reviews of several hotels. The ones with positive reviews are more likely to be chosen than hotels with negative or neutral feedback.

In conclusion, these 5 major benefits of an online presence make it a necessity for businesses to invest in a website and a digital marketing strategy to become visible. Otherwise, you will be missing on a wide audience and on many customers. So if you are looking to join this digital world, the first step to make is to hire a web design and development company or a web agency in the Middle East to advise you on how to be successful online.