Why Own A Website - Benefits

Why Own A Website?

I have a local product that I want to market here in the Elkhart County area. Why bother with a website? This is a very common question that I see in the manufacturing/retail markets, as many traditional retailers see their clientele as people that are not “techno-geeks”. The reality is that the “techno-geeks” of yesterday, are the everyday blue collar workers of today. Computers have come very far over a short period of time. Who would have thought, even recently, that my 3yr. old would be sitting on the lap top playing “Nick” games. Or my 8yr. old would get online to write a message, or “link-up” his Nintendo-DS with a neighbor friend (I haven’t even figured that one out). You may think your client is too “blue-collar”. That assumption is a big mistake. Why? Several reasons…

Over 75% of all Americans own a Computer. They have become affordable over the years, very easy to use, and now most people can not survive in even the most basic business tasks of filling out a resume’ or cover letter without having access to a “word-based” program. How could I find jobs quickly in South Bend or Elkhart without access to a computer, or the internet? How could I submit to a job in the newspaper, when so many require submission to an email account? How do I create and store my resume’. Although there are several possible answers, the easiest is to have an inexpensive computer available in my home.

Let’s take an extra step, as most people that own a computer have internet access. If you are in the market to buy a car here is Elkhart, IN. is it easier to pop upstairs with a cup of coffee, get online in a matter of seconds. Browse through hundreds of possible vehicle options. Locate the vehicle, color, model, interior, research the vehicle’s safety ratings, and see if that particular vehicle has had any damage reported. Also, pinpoint the very dealership you would want to buy it from, and review any service reports, or recommendations to that dealership prior to buying?

Or, would it be easier to get the kids all packed up, get out in the rain, blindly search for dealerships for a vehicle you haven’t researched. Flip through the yellow pages, make phone calls to see if people are open (that could have been found out online as well), test drive several cars that you didn’t want to drive in the first place, yet the sales-person did their job, and got you to test it. Spend virtually the hole day out, waste the gas, waste the money eating out…and so on and so forth…

People are coming to the vast realization that the internet is faster, easier, and costs less.

As a matter of fact, in the “housing industry”, over 75% of shoppers hit the internet before looking at model homes. This is almost a standard percentage for mid to high ticket items. Think about it. Have you searched recently for a new home, or plot of land. A new car or lawnmower? A new mattress or piece of furniture? Chances are, you hit the web first…More importantly, chances are, you did not tell the store owner that the web is where you found their business. You may not think that your customers are hitting the internet first, as they may not be telling you that the internet is where they found your business. Keep in mind that the internet is secondhand nature to most people anymore. Would you go into a dealership, and just blurt out that you found them in the yellow pages, or in the newspaper, or even an ad that was mailed to your home? Chances are you wouldn’t unless you were specifically asked.

So, in regard to the percentage of shoppers on-line, and the opportunity to get noticed by not only the majority of prospective clients, but the growing majority as well, it makes perfect sense to also get in front of these customers before your competitors do (or at least, at the same time).

Websites – The Goliath of the marketing industry:

Before we take a look at the specific reasoning behind why it would or wouldn’t make sense to start a website, we need to understand what the web is, where it has been, and where it is going.

When websites were first being created in the infancy stages of the internet, back in 1991, they exploded. There was over 800% growth (per Netcraft Survey-Nov. 2006) per yr. for the first 6yrs! After that, the web still grew at a rate of over 150% per yr. for the next 3yrs, and approx. 25% per yr. fairly consistently after that. Even in the most down economy of many of our lifetimes, the web still has over 100 Million sites, and is experiencing growth almost unheard of by any industry of equal size! Many would argue that there is no other single marketing entity of its size, and I would probably have to agree for now.

With those sites come literally over 8-billion individual web pages, which is a number that is so large, that it is virtually impossible to be able to monitor an absolutely true number, due to the vast size and daily changes.

What does this mean to you?

Well, if you are not online, chances are your competitor is.

If there is one thing to digest from all this, is that you are at a phenomenal marketing disadvantage by not having a website online. You may think that all your traffic comes from road frontage, and that may be what initially gets a person to notice your business, or even stop in. I would certainly argue, however, that your best chance of getting an already large and growing part of the population in the door - is through online marketing.

Look at it this way.

83% of all Americans have physically made an online purchase! This means even a higher percentage has actually “looked for an item” online.

50% of all Americans have even made an online purchase while at work!

Having no web-presence means these purchases simply went to a competitor. There is no other possible result.

This is just another key-example as to why it is critical that you advertise online.

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