How will having a website help your business?
A website will provide an official place for both prospective and existing customers to learn about your business. Unlike many other forms of advertising, a website is available 24/7 to anyone, anywhere in the world.
First Impressions
Your website is often the first impression you will give a potential customer about your business. What do you want that important first impression to be? What will a new customer think if your site is poorly designed, out of date, "under construction" or just plain non-existent? How does your current website compare to your competition? What if you don't have a website but your competitor does? These are all very important questions you need to be asking yourself if you expect your business to succeed in today's marketplace. The bottom line is: a quality website will result in more customers.
Search Results
SEO. What is it? Search Engine Optimization. This may be a term you have heard, but what is it and why is it important? Did you know that about two thirds of all the visitors that will ever come to your site, will be people who have randomly stumbled across your listing in a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing? And 90% of that two thirds will come from Google. The reason this is significant to your business is: what happens when a potential customer searches for a generic term that happens to be related to your business? Well if you don't have a website, or your website is improperly put together, you site probably won't even show up in the search results, but guess what... your competitor's website will.
But I Already have a Facebook / MySpace page.
Social networking sites are never a valid replacement for having a real website. Facebook and MySpace do provide businesses with an amazing opportunity to connect with their customers to do some very targeted advertising and promotions. Only having a Facebook / MySpace will not help your Google search rank at all, which accounts for a vast majority of how people discover your business. Also, these sites are not verified, meaning that anyone could go make a Facebook page falsely representing your business and there's nothing you can do about it. See for yourself, just search for your favorite celebrity on Facebook and see how many dozens of unofficial profiles there are for them. Having your own website will give your customers an official "home base" of sorts, and lets them know they are officially at the right place, something which is impossible to do on Facebook or MySpace.
Other Third Party Sites
Maybe your business already has a directory listing on Yelp, Chowhound, Yellow Pages, etc. isn't that good enough? These types of sites can be great for helping to get your name out there, but are not a professional replacement for having a real website. Your search engine ranking will suffer if all your business has is a directory listing on a third party site. You are given little or no control over the content displayed on these sites unless you pay them, and are generally not viewed as accurate or up to date information by your customers.
Google Maps, Places and Reviews
If you have an official and properly built website, Google will include you in many of their products which are of utmost importance for letting potential customers know you exist. With Google Places and Maps you will appear in local search results for businesses relevant to people's searches, you will also show up on Google Maps and in Google Earth. Not only will Google Maps show your customers how to get to your store, but can also show your website url, hours, customer reviews and many other important pieces of information about your business.
Mobile Users
Approximately 10% of visitors to your website will be using a mobile device (iPhone, Android, iPad, Tablet, etc.). Today's smart phones have Google local business directories totally integrated into the phone's operating system and GPS. If your business is not included in these listings then mobile users will only be directed to your competitors. A properly built website and Google integration will ensure that your business reaches mobile users.
