Benefits of a new website

A website is a vital part of your ongoing marketing campaign. It acts as a 24/7 salesperson for your business and if you don’t have one, or your site is unprofessional or ineffective, you are losing out on valuable sales opportunities.

The internet is increasingly the first port of call for people looking for a product or service. They are able to type in a couple of keywords and are presented with page after page of websites, all offering what they are looking for. People like to take their time researching and comparing the offerings of different companies and online they can browse day or night, ordering products and services without even leaving their home or office.

A business needs an online presence to compete in today’s market – even if it is a simple one page, ‘business card’ type website. As long as you have effective copy, all of your contact details and preferably and contact form, you will have the potential to reach a wider audience than any of your other marketing put together!

Websites are also a very cost effective form of marketing: there is no printing involved, no delivery costs (aside from what you sell of course!) and no limit to the amount of information you can put on them. Unlike an expensive ad in a magazine where you will be limited as to the amount of content you can include, on your website you can include as much as you like.

I already have a website. Why would I need another?

If you already have a website, that's great. You've been ahead of the game and have enjoyed some of the benefits that the internet has to offer. However, websites have a limited life-span. This is because:

• Customers become bored if they see the same website time and again, especially if the content rarely changes
• The technology used to create websites moves on very quickly
• Website design 'fashion' also moves on
• New techniques for making websites interesting are invented all the time. E.g. Video (YouTube), Photo Galleries, and animation
• Google and other search engines rank newer websites more highly, as they use newer technology

It's vital to keep your customers interested, and to attract new customers. There are many ways to do this, but the most important are to make sure that your website is up-to-date and looks good!