A common question from Small Business Clients is…

Shockingly more than half of small business owners (55%) do not have a website, according to a 2013 survey of more than 3,800 small businesses conducted by Google and research company Ipsos.Google Ipsos | Small Business Survey

Do I really need a website? Shockingly more than half of small business owners (55%) do not have a website, according to a 2013 survey of more than 3,800 small businesses conducted by Google and research company Ipsos. So it’s no big surprise that small business owners question the value of a website, after all they’ve been doing fine with their business so far, right?

Well sure, but don’t you want more than fine? I know I do. Here’s 7 reasons why having a website will help your business:

Everyone Is Online

90.9% of Canadians are online¹ and 87% of Americans². Not having an online presence means you’re invisible to a huge portion of the population. Also, and it’s kind of a scary thought but anyone under the age of 21 is younger than the internet and therefore doesn’t know what it’s like to live in a world without it. If your company isn’t online how will Millennials know it exists? This is important because this generation is likely your customers (or future customers) and your potential workforce.

Open All Day Everyday

Having a website allows potential and existing customers to learn about you and your products or service at whatever time is convenient for them. Having a website means your business is represented 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! Even when you and your staff are at home sleeping, your website is promoting your business for you to potential customers.

Go Beyond Your Own Backyard

Having a website means that potential customers outside of your local area have access to your products and services which expands your reach and potential income exponentially.

Give Your Print Advertising A Boost

Print advertising isn’t perfect. It can become outdated very quickly and it can only hold so much information. But with a website you can use URLs or a nifty device like QR Codes to give customers access to all the information they need: images, video, text, catalogues and order forms. That information can also change as often as you need, allowing you to only show the most up to date information and products to your customers.

Email Marketing is Essential

Email Marketing is an vital tool for every business because it is one of the most cost effective ways to build and maintain relationships with customers. With a website you can use forms to collect email addresses to add to your email marketing campaigns or subscriptions to your E-newsletter. Just make sure you’re following CASL guidelines. (Here’s what you need to know about CASL.)

E-Commerce

If you sell products to your customers (even some services) then an E-commerce website might be exactly what you need to increase sales. It gives you a 24/7 online sales force at a reduced cost over a traditional sales team. Plus waking up to your inbox full of overnight orders is a remarkable feeling.

The Competition

Let’s face it, your competitors probably have a website. To compete you need to have one too. But the good news is that having a useful and user friendly website could be the deciding factor between you and your competition. But if you don’t have a website, you’re making it very easy for your competitors to get new customers that could be yours.

1 Internet World Stats: Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/ca.htm

2 Internet World Stats: USA. N.p., n.d. Web. http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/us.htm