Using a Website to Market Your Small Business 

Statistics prove that consumers are spending over $93 billion online, resulting in expenditures of over $137 billion offline for products that they saw online.   Multi media advertising approaches are beneficial to get the most bang out of the dollar. 

Having a website does not replace a company brochure or pamphlet.  Three to five contacts are generally required in order to close a sale.  Website marketing provides ongoing communication, relationship building, and trust with the consumer by continuous exposure of the company’s name, products and services. 

In this information era, we draw interest by offering informative articles on the website, as well as offering something for free, such as solutions, samples, courses and newsletters that benefit others.  These facilitate bringing repeat customers to the site, while validating the company’s credibility.  For the same reasons, it is vital to maintain a continuous flow of current articles on the website.  Content is key to obtaining and maintaining customer interest.  With the advancement of website development and knowledge, people’s expectations have increased.  Meeting the increasing demand for excellence is a very real concern in the responsibility of website maintenance.  This includes current updates to material content, easy navigation, in-depth content information pertaining to the topic material, as well as a fast load and response time.

In obtaining the client’s email address, a database can be built.  This database becomes a marketing goldmine tool for the company. It is important to keep the lines of customer communication open. They are reassured when they know they have a means of contact, whether it is for customer service or information. 

Websites can facilitate customer response by offering immediate auto reply emails.  We live in a world of instant gratification, which also applies to customer’s requests.  They expect excellence in customer service, especially with such a wide variety of competitive choices of online websites.

Having a website presence can increase an advertising response rate 30 to 40%, when a website address/URL is included in the ad.  This is commonly referred to as the information superhighway.  Being virtually accessible 24/7/365 allows websites to speak for you, even when absent.