Should All Businesses, No Matter What Their Situation, Build A Website?
In these difficult financial times, it appears that more and more people are moving towards the internet for purchases and away from traditional high street shops. But does every company need to have a web site?
There will be those firms that probably do not need a web site, such as a small food supplier who may well have stock that is only on the shelf for a few days at the most and so does not lend itself to online marketing. Possibly the best option for organisations such as this is to have an entry in Yell.com or another of the local listing websites, so that anyone looking for a local company will see them there. They will also be able to access basic details such as opening times, telephone number etc. This should prove sufficient for such a business.
The large superstores all have web sites that can be used for Online Marketing and have efficient delivery services to make sure that groceries arrive quickly. However this form of service may well be beyond the resources of a small local greengrocer, or the like and is most likely unnecessary.
Another form of business that may need a minimal web presence is bespoke clothing, such as wedding dresses. Their web site may well be a showcase of a assortment of styles and prices to tempt the user, in the hope that they will come to the boutique and take the next steps such as measurements, fittings and final purchase. It does not seem feasible to offer these aspects of their service online, although contact details are essential and customer feedback would also be helpful.
There is a valid argument that for small local companies, an advert in the local free newspaper and word of mouth recommendations may well bring in enough local trade to keep the firm going. But what about the future, as more and more people look online for their chief purchases, it is really only a matter of time before they look for more and more of their daily needs online in numbers.
What is really attractive about even just a small showcase web site is that once it is up and running, it’s available all the time for potential customers to find whenever they do a web search. So in that context, it would seem like a good idea for the bulk of companies to have a web site to show that they are being up to date and so should look more attractive to modern day customers.
Where organisations do have web sites it will be critical that these are optimised so that when a user carries out a search in Google, for example, their Search Engine Placement will be on the first page of the organic listings, in the hope that this will result in an order, or an email or a phone call for an appointment.
The company would need to use the services of a reputable Search Engine Optimization Company to undertake the work, and various checks can be made to make sure that the company is capable of delivering the right results.



