What is the purpose of a website?

After looking over hundreds of websites over the past year, the one thing I
discovered is people are still unsure of what the Internet can do for them.
People are generally under the impression that a website is used to take
their business to the next level – expand from a local market to a global
market. Most people still don’t realize the benefits of a website to a local
market – and to a new, small and growing business.

Unless you sell a popular product online, you will not make huge waves
with your website. Instead, think of your website as you do your phone
number. You can’t start a business without your basics, and your website
should be considered a basic part of doing business. Start by building
your site using a basic format. Include your products, information about
your business and general overviews and articles that pertain to your
industry. Keep it simple, clean and well thought out and put together.
Then expand as your business expands.

Put your web address on every piece of literature that leaves your business:
business cards, brochures and mailers, shopping bags, your voicemail,
stickers, invoices and packaging. Anything that can have your information
should provide your web address. Then let time work and provide you with
customers you could never dream of accessing through traditional marketing.

Let’s consider a gift basket business for a minute. Imagine receiving a phone
call for a specialized baby gift basket from a local corporate client. They have
a great customer in another state having a baby, and want to show their care
and appreciation by sending a basket. You attach a business card to the basket,
and add their mailing address to your database. Several months later, this
client is back at work, and is putting together a tradeshow for their company.
They remember your company because they were so impressed by your basket,
and have been receiving postcards with your product information regularly.
They go to your website, see your corporate themed baskets, and select a style
suitable for their tradeshow. They place an order for 100 customized baskets.
An order you never would have had if you hadn’t had a website.

That is the power of a website. It can drive new clients to your site through
referrals and through customer contact. Providing it is well thought out and
put together, and has the ability to create the sale, it will help your business
tremendously. Don’t worry that you only have a few pages to start. A few
carefully crafted pages are much better than a lot of useless information that
leaves the viewer lost as to what you do. Start small, and grow as your
company does.

Make it a goal to add spend a couple of hours every month adding new
information to your site. Add tools and features that make it fun for your
visitors. And remember to always ask for the sale. You should ultimately
lead people to take action by either contacting you or making a purchase
directly online. Adding content is time consuming, but has a very successful
outcome. The more time you spend on the Internet, the more you will learn,
and the more successful you will be.