Your website is an extension of your brand – and an integral component of your customer experience. Having an established online presence enhances your reputability, as well as your ability to reach new potential customers.

Having a website gives you access to a wider range of potential customers while making it easier for those seeking your services to find you. People visit websites primarily to access information. In terms of business, this information helps visitors make informed decisions prior to purchasing. If you want to increase the likelihood of converting potential clients to purchasing customers, a website will play a vital role.

Business Benefits of Having a Website

Credibility

Having a website enhances the credibility of your business, and your brand – as it is a reflection of both. According to a 2015 survey, “84% of consumers believe that having a website makes your business more credible”. Credibility is important because, without it, it is unlikely that somebody would be willing to make a purchase. Take CoreSolutions for example, as a software company, our website is vital to how people perceive our business. A well-designed, easy to navigate website stands as a testament to our development skills, without which it would be much more difficult to relay our expertise to potential customers. Imagine if we had an outdated, poorly functioning site – it would be challenging to maintain credibility within the web development industry, and by extension, obtain clients; which leads perfectly into the next benefit of having a website.

Acquisition

Increased acquisition is another advantage of maintaining an established online presence. As we just discussed, being credible and reputable greatly impacts potential customers likelihood of purchasing. You may be thinking “I have a Facebook page, why do I need a website now too?”. Well, research shows that having a social profile just isn’t enough to solidify your brands' reputability, as “36% of clients prefer to deal with businesses that have websites. By contrast, only 21% will work with businesses without websites.” Keeping these figures in mind, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to invest in a company website if you are currently without one. If you are wondering how long it would take for that website to pay itself off, check out our free downloadable software development ROI calculator to get a ball-park estimate.

Promotion

A commonly known benefit of having a website is the capacity for promotion and increased reach. The internet makes the world a little bit smaller, the market you operate in is no exception. A website gives you access to exponentially more potential clients than you would ever reach with flyers and posters in your local shopping center. In fact, of the earth's nearly 7.5 billion people, 3.5 Billion people or 47% are on the internet every day. Which means when you promote something online, significantly more people are exposed to it.

Aside from the tangible business benefits you can achieve by curating a company website, there are also major brand implications to be considered.

Your website is an extension of your business, and your brand, which is important to remember when developing your company’s website. If the voice, messaging or overall tone of your website is misaligned with your brand, it gives an impression of inconsistency. If you as the business don’t understand what your brand is, how are customers expected to understand? Consistent messaging is vital to consider when doing business across multiple channels. Leverage your website to expand the reach of your brand story and your organization as a whole rather than using it as an inadvertent means of confusing customers.

Also consider how your website is representative of your brand, if you have a poorly maintained and operated website, it could undermine a previously positive view of your company or reinforce negative preconceptions of your brand. Make sure you keep in mind that for many people, your website serves as an online store-front, and in many cases the first impression – make it something to be proud of.

Final Thoughts

In the past, a brick-and-mortar storefront and phone number would have sufficed, but in our digitally hybridized environment, tools such as websites and social media must be leveraged in order to reach your full potential. If you are wondering where to start when developing your first company website, it is a good idea to benchmark yourself against other names in your industry – see what they are doing, what is effective and what isn’t. You don’t want to replicate somebody's brand messaging, but it helps to gather some design inspiration before embarking on your own website development project.

As always,

Thanks for reading.

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