The Internet has forever changed customer shopping and purchasing behavior. 74% of adults in the US now use the Internet. Research says 81% of web visitors search for information online about a service or product they are considering buying. Search engines have become purchasing decision engines. Driving this trend are time savings and convenience.
You need a website online because 1) Buyers are online looking for your products and services. They’ll find them too. But if you’re not online someone else will sell to those buyers. 2) Those businesses that are online are your competitors. Until you have a website, you can’t compete with them at all.
A Business Website Offers Serious Advantages 1) More Customers – Being online makes available those customers that research and buy online. Their geographical location becomes much less important. They could be nearby or they might be thousands of miles away.
Increased Availability – Information often drives purchases. A website makes information available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Company information, product and service information, everything is constantly available to customers. A website is a salesman that never sleeps.
3) Increased Communication – A business website opens up many ways to communicate with customers. Direct communication can include using forms, e-mail, blogs and forums. These methods allow any business to do market research using surveys or polls, or just collect everyday opinions, ask questions and receive customer feedback.
4) Low-Cost Marketing – Web pages may be built quickly and inexpensively. They can offer more information in more formats than traditional print media. Consider the possibility of adding audio, video or an unlimited number of photos to your sales and marketing effort. Updates can also be completed quickly and easily. Traditional marketing campaigns can’t compete with the scope and low cost of a website.
The simple existence of a website guarantees neither web traffic nor sales. In nearly all cases a process called “optimization” is required to ensure the visibility of the website in the search engines. Higher rankings in the search engine results leads directly to higher traffic, and subsequent sales.
Search marketing is critical to Website success. Buyers can’t buy from you until they can find you. We can help. Effective, ethical techniques. Invest in success. Zen Web Services.