In Business? 10 Reasons Why You Need a Website -- Now!

1) Word of Mouth
The single most powerful form of new business creation is word of mouth. Your past customers, friends, acquaintances and staff aren't likely to carry your brochure or even your business card everywhere they go. The can however carry your domain name, in their heads! Every time they have a conversation that leads to your kind of business they just quote your simple domain name. You've chosen a simple domain name of course, easily remembered, easily spelt and requiring no explanation. For that reason avoid hyphenated names.

2) Cost Effective
Have you ever produced a colour printed brochure or other printed promotional material? expensive isn't it? When you have a web site created you may consider that expensive too. Hang on, make the comparison. A web site is a full colour brochure for your business. Unlike a printed brochure it never gets lost or put in the bin and you never have to go to your printer and pay for more. If things change or you are able to offer new products or services alterations to your web site can be made instantly and relatively cheaply too. You wed site is available in pristine condition, 24 hours a day to anyone in the world. You can even replace your printed brochure with a CD of your web site.

3) Lower Advertising Costs
Any honest advertising expert will tell you that small and often is better than big and seldom. Would you spend your advertising budget on one big ad published once? Of course not because that approach just doesn't work. So how do you communicate all of your key benefits "small and often". When you have a web site it's a lot easier. Reduce column inches and air time by using just one effective message and promoting your wed site address for more details.

4) Interactivity
You web site is alive! It can do so many things that printed materials simply can't. Above all your customers and potential customers can communicate at their convenience, even while you are asleep or your business premises are closed. You return to hot enquiries. Your site can also be set for you to see who's online in real time. You can even offer live help online to visitors who are in your site.

5) Customer Retention
You can maintain customer relationships efficiently as your site acquires subscribers and customers who opt in to be informed of developments, new products and services available, special offers and industry news. You grow a database of customers and potential customers and communicate with them quickly and directly. You database becomes an integral part of your business helping you to build strong, loyal customer relationships and repeat business.

6) Catchment Reach
Without the internet you find you business constrained to your locality either by it's physical location or the prohibitive costs of reaching a wider audience or both. These constraints are broken by the internet. You may be based in London and there may well be potential customers in Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham or even Milan, New York and Shanghai. How else can your messages reach them cost effectively? With your web site you call the tune. You can target locally, regionally, nationally or globally regardless of your physical location. The chains are finally broken.

7) Easy Customer Entry
Potential customers aren't always too confident about stepping over the threshold of a shop let alone knocking on your office door. Your web site removes any anxiety that potential customers may feel. They aren't going to face their perceived demons on your web site, no possibility of over bearing sales staff, no risk of embarrassment and no feelings of guilt if you don't have what they want and they have to leave. Your web site helps you to focus on genuinely interested customers that you are able to help.

8) Reduced Stock Holding
If you have a shop or any business supplying physical product you know that in general you can't sell what you don't have. The internet offers a big difference. If you are in the kind of business where your suppliers can deliver goods to you quickly you can leave the stock holding to them. Equally you may be in a business where a delivery period is the expected norm, say fitted kitchens or sofas. Again your site can show your wares virtually and you needn't have these costly items actually in stock, just available in a reasonable time.

9) Level Paying Field
You have a credible business with great products and services and a passion for customer service but you're small. Nothing wrong with that but customer perception is important. You know you can do as good a job or better than the big boys but your shop is on a back street or your office is on the 7th floor is a small provincial town. None of this is an issue on the internet. Your web site can be as sophisticated as any competitor and can project your true business image rather than the image that your surroundings may suggest. Your web site can communicate who you really are or who you truly aspire to be.

10) Passive Income
You're only human. You can't be ready to do business 24/7. You have to eat, sleep, relax and do other things too. Your web site doesn't. Your web site is actively selling and growing your business every minute of every day. If you sell goods directly from your site your balance is growing whilst you're asleep. You wake up to orders in the book and cash in the bank.

Malcolm Cooper is a UK web designer based in Gloucestershire. Malcolm also owns and operates one of the largest online jewellry stores in the UK and applies that knowledge and experience in providing web services to other small and medium sized businesses.

malcolmcooper.com
malcolmcooper.com

spotless home service Lake Forest ..
In The News:

A Columbia University breach exposed names, Social Security numbers and academic records of nearly 869,000 people, with notifications beginning in August.
Rental car drivers use AI-powered apps like Proofr to protect themselves from unfair damage fees as major companies deploy automated inspection tools.
Fox News' AI newsletter brings you the latest on technology advancements around artificial intelligence.
OnTrac data breach between April 13-15, 2025, exposed personal information of over 40,000 people including Social Security numbers and medical records.
A woman named Wika announces her engagement to an AI chatbot sparking worldwide debate about virtual relationships and technology.
The notorious people search site National Public Data relaunches despite a previous breach affecting 3 billion individuals, raising fresh privacy concerns.
Revolutionary TRAUMAGEL gel controls life-threatening bleeding from gunshot wounds and traumatic injuries, helping first responders prevent prehospital deaths.
Protect your home network by enabling proper encryption, creating strong passwords, checking connected devices and using VPN and antivirus software.
The Navy's solar-powered Skydweller drone flew nonstop for 73 hours in Mississippi, proving renewable energy can power long-endurance military missions.
Moving and downsizing expose seniors to identity theft and scams as data brokers collect real estate records and personal information to sell to criminals.
ShengShu's Vidar technology revolutionizes humanoid robot training by using AI-generated synthetic video, reducing required training data from hours to just 20 minutes.
Apple's older Mac computers face security risks without regular updates, but 10 essential tips including FileVault encryption and strong passwords can keep aging Macs protected.
Self-driving trucks from PlusAI could reshape freight transportation by 2027, addressing driver shortages and reducing logistics costs for businesses.
Solar farms are turning to sheep instead of mowers to cut grass under solar panels, lowering costs, reducing emissions and creating new income for farmers.
Fraudsters posing as local officials are making fake calls about missed jury duty, demanding payments in a rising scheme that exploits fear of arrest.
Honeywell Aerospace engineers developed a "surface alert system" that gives pilots two aural warnings when they are 15 and 30 seconds away from a collision on the runway.
Anonymous researcher has scraped public Spotify accounts of politicians and celebrities, highlighting major privacy risks in default platform settings.
AI chatbot toys marketed as screen-free playmates could undermine children's empathy and critical thinking skills, according to pediatric specialists.
TransUnion confirms a major data breach affecting 4.4 million U.S. consumers after hackers exploited third-party Salesforce apps to steal personal info.
Scammers use fake DocuSign emails claiming Apple Pay charges to steal personal information using fraudulent phone numbers and fake receipts.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
Farmers Insurance confirms data breach affecting over 1.1 million customers nationwide, exposing customer info including addresses.
The iconic Mary Kay pink Cadillac goes electric with the Cadillac Optiq, available only to the company's top 1% of sales force performers.
Cybercriminals abuse trusted Intel driver to gain kernel access and shut down Windows Defender, enabling undetected malware deployment since July 2025.
Using email aliases for online shopping and subscriptions can protect your privacy by preventing companies from linking your activity across websites.

Allocating Your Web Site?s Budget Properly

I had a client say something to me the other... Read More

Guide to Internet Business - Website Setup

After planning the design and content of your website, it's... Read More

Build a Strong Foundation for Creating Your First Online Identity ? Notes for Beginners

If you are looking for creating your online presence you... Read More

You Cant Just Build A Website And Hope It Works!

Like any area of business your website needs some effort... Read More

Making the Most of Your Website: Start with the Basics

One of my most salient memories from when I sold... Read More

Six Basic Reasons Why Visitors Stay On Your Web Site

1. The first page appears quickly.It's a good way to... Read More

7 Tips to Make Your Order Page Work Harder

So your prospect, Mary, is sitting at the computer reading... Read More

HTML Editors 101 - Smaller Is Better

SiteSpinnerSiteSpinner is a user-friendly web site development tool that includes... Read More

5 Tips To Supercharge Your Website Sales Copy

The art of turning website visitors into paying customers depends... Read More

The Cost Of A Web Site

Just starting out, you can start with a simple informational... Read More

Improving Usability for Screen Reader Users

Simply ensuring your website is accessible to screen reader users... Read More

Why Every Small Business Owner Needs Two Websites

Every small business owner knows that they need a website,... Read More

Setting Up Your First Website

Q. Hey, Cathy: I'm just setting up a website. What... Read More

Achieving Differentiation With Your Website

Internet Marketing is not a miracle marketing strategy ? competition... Read More

What Does An Ex-Basketball Coach Know About Pulling Web Metrics?

In my previous life.....Actually, my previous JOB life, I was... Read More

The Power Of CPanel

cPanel is a control panel for your website and allows... Read More

Guide to Internet Business - Design and Content

After deciding what kind of internet business you want to... Read More

The Number 1 Reason Most Websites Fail

Failure, just like success, is measured differently by each and... Read More

3 Reasons Why You Need URL Rewriting Module To Enchance Your Web

URL rewriting are major needs for your sites that produce... Read More

Web Development Processes and Technical Environments

The process of Web application development is critical to the... Read More

Website Strategy!

A website lets you put your products in front of... Read More

Effective Webdesign

D.zigns dzignerwebs The Basics Before starting on... Read More

UK Online Shopping with an Edge, for Buyers and Sellers Alike

Any new website competing on the internet, needs to take... Read More

Functions and Subroutines in ASP

Functions and Subroutines in ASP If you read... Read More

5 Essential Traits Of A Home Business Website

So you've decided to start an online work at home... Read More

weekly home cleaning Mundelein ..