Is it Really Necessary to Have a Website?

... to someone who is struggling to operate on a shoestring while getting their home business up and running the importance of having their own website that is professional in appearance.

Here are a few of the reasons why this is so vitally important to your home business.

1) Legitimacy. It lends legitimacy to have your own website. Believe it or not this is so very true. More importantly though, is that you have a well designed website with relevant content.

2) Exposure. While simply having a website won't bring customers to your doorstep it will increase the amount of exposure your business will receive. You need to invest the money in a professional design, optimization, and content for your website but if this act nets you one customer who tells another, who tells another, it has been worth every penny.

3) Visibility. When you work from home, your local community often overlooks you. Having your own website means that you have a virtual storefront that isn't limited to your community. This means that you can be seen by anyone who does business online. Not just you, but the product or service you represent as well.

Many companies that have products for direct selling (which covers many new home businesses) have their own websites for their reps. The problem with these sites is that you can't really do very much to make your site stand out from the rest. Some of these companies have very specific rules about building your own website as a company representative, but many will allow you to have a website that links to your business website. If your website doesn't stand out somehow, the chances are that it will likely never be seen, which is why I recommend a website of your own that links to your company provided website.

If you have completely started your very own business from scratch or you are trying to sell affiliate products trust me when I tell you that you need your own website. Others will tell you that millions have been made without a personal website and that may have been true in the past but there is great competition every day for web traffic and search engines are constantly coming up with new requirements to keep information flowing, fresh, and relative.

While these reasons may not seem like such a big deal now, over time you will find that they matter tremendously. Every day the world is moving to a more virtual society. People do their banking; buy movie tickets, plan trips, and order take out online. We even do our window-shopping online; robbing yourself of that kind of exposure to potential customers is literally taking money out of your pockets each and every day. That is why you should, without a doubt, have a website for your home business.