Over the course of last 10 years I have owned and / or operated many different businesses. Some of those business ventures include (but not limited to) computer repair, real estate, children's clothing, and the list goes on. Although the businesses I owned or operated have varied in industry, they all had one thing in common. Every business I owned was enhanced in some way by a presence on the internet. It is my firm belief that every business or organization on the planet could benefit from having a website.

There are many people that subscribe to the belief that a website is only valuable if it can attract new customers through web searches. While this is a one possible benefit, the reality is that most websites will never appear on page 1 of a search engine’s rankings.

Even so, I feel that a good website offers benefits above and beyond page 1.

A properly maintained website will give your organization a competitive edge over your competition. It can allow you to stretch your ad dollars, build brand awareness, improve customer service, and show the world that you are a professional. The following paragraphs will discuss each of these topics in detail.

Stretch Your Ad Dollars

A website can help to leverage advertising dollars. A lot of the information you pay to have printed could be displayed in web pages. Your printed medium could be reduced to the bear essentials along with a reference to your website. In most cases, an informational site will carry a fixed cost regardless of the amount of information contained within its pages. I have seen web hosting packages start as low as $2.99 per month for the "do it yourself types". Even the "bare bones" hosting packages allow you to store a ton of data and graphics on your site. Can you buy a business card for $2.99 per month? In addition, your site can act as an electronic sales person if done properly.

Build Your Brand

Websites help to build your business’s brand. The average consumer prefers to do business with entities that they are familiar with. This is why businesses spend millions of dollars creating familiar brands that the consumer will trust. A website can help to build that familiarity in the minds of your customer. With the use of webpage forms, it can also be used to gather information about what your customers want or need. This can also help to strengthen your brand by providing relevant products or services.

Customer Service

A good website can help to improve customer service. A "Frequently Asked Questions" webpage alone can assist customers as well as "would be" customers in understanding your business policies, practices, and procedures. The information you place on your site can help educate the consumer on what goods or services you have to offer. This can help to generate new sales leads 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Professionalism

A well maintained website communicates to your customers that "I am a professional" and "I am an expert in my industry". Your site can enhance your organization’s image with well placed graphics and informative documentation.