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I’m often asked why a business that’s never had a website should have one. Or if they have one why should they care about it looking professional, it being search engine optimized, etc.

Well, here are just 10 reasons why every business NEEDS a website…

1. Your competitors probably have their own sites.
This means when people are looking for a site, they see your competitors business and not yours, which means you’re missing out on potential customers!

2. Its the first impression of your business. A quality and professionally designed website will add credibility to your business. A poorly designed website can have the opposite effect. A lot of times, the visuals of a website alone will make the sale for you. Ff someone sees that you have a great design, that is well-laid out, clear, concise, and visually appealing, they will take you more serious than someone who’s site is the opposite.

3. Customers EXPECT businesses to have a website.
Most people use their cell phones for everything. Most of us put a number into out phone and never know the number. If its not in our phone it won’t be remembered or called. (I don’t remember my house number from memory at this point) A domain name is easier to remember than a phone number for most people.

4. Your website is always open!
Your website is your constant salesperson. he never takes, breaks, holidays, calls in sick, needs to go to the Doctor, and once its set up and designed, he only wants $10 a month to brag about your business. You can’t beat those labor rates. A website is accessible to current and, importantly, future customers, 24hrs a day 365 days a year.

5. Its a convenient way to contact you.
Once a customer has found your website they can choose the best way of contacting you. Phone, Fax or Email.

6. You can cut down or repetitive phone calls.
You can answer commonly asked questions on your website thereby providing a more satisfying customer experience.

7.  Your website is your brag board.
You can use your website to display customer testimonials, reinforcing customers confidence in your products/services.

8. You can connect with current and potential customers to grab their attention.
You can use your website to tell existing and potential customers about special offers, events, locations, and more

9. No More yellow Pages.
No one uses the yellow pages anymore. A lot of markets have even stopped producing them all together as advertisement in them has gotten so low. Your missing a lot of potential business if your not in front of customers looking for you on search engines.

10. Inexpensive and Almost Risk Free
All the above benefits to having a website for your small business are great. When people first began to adopt the internet these benefits would have been very costly and out of reach of the average small business owner. However, while every other advertising medium has increased in price over the past decade, website development and hosting has decreased significantly. So for a few hundred a year or more, your buck.

There is virtually no risk involved, there is always a 99.9% chance that you get a return on the investment of having the site built. You save on the costly yellow pages ads, and Internet marketing is way cheaper per month than print ads.

There are many, many more reasons why your business needs a website. Get your business online today!