I am still surprised that in 2010 I’m still hearing small business owners ask me why they need a website.  The conversation usually starts out the same every time; I’ll ask, “Do you have a website for your business?” and they will reply, “I’m a small local company, my customers know me so I don’t need a website”.  Then I reply, “Do you advertise in the local paper or the yellow pages?” and they’ll reply “Yes I do, you have to advertise”.

“You have to advertise”!  That is the very reason why you need a website for your small business.  The number one function of a small business website is to advertise your company.  A website has now become the most cost-effective advertising platform there is today.  Why?

97% of Consumers Now Use Online Media to Shop Locally

The way consumers shop has changed.  No-longer are they looking in the local news papers or flyers for sales and coupon’s.  No-longer are consumers opening the Yellow Pages to find the telephone number or address to a local merchant.  Now they go to their computer or cell phone and search the internet for what they need.

Whether it’s finding a local sale or researching a major purchase, the very first step consumers make today is to the internet.  Even the big three internet search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Bing, are focusing more and more on “local search”.  When you perform a search on the internet, the search engines know, with great accuracy, where you are searching from.  They then use this information to return the most relevant results for your search query and they return as many local results as possible.

Have you ever done a search and in the results there is a little map with flags showing the local businesses that matched your query?  That is part of the local search.  But if your business doesn’t have a website, you won’t be found by your local consumers.

Cost-Effective

For less than the cost of a small Yellow Pages ad, you can have a custom built website for your small business.  A website allows consumers the opportunity to discover your business when they are actively searching for your products or services.  Imagine what that could do for your bottom line!

A local consumer is interested in the products or services you sell and at the very moment they are searching for information on that product, your store is opened up right in front of them on their screen;  day or night, 24/7.  That’s the power of a small business website.

Now I ask you; are you still wondering if you need a website?

Tags: internet marketing, Web Development, Website Design