The world is not what it used to be thirty, twenty, or even two years ago. Globalization has led to the increase in the number of companies competing with each on the planetary scale. Some of those are multinationals with lavish budgets and tremendous opportunities for advertising and marketing. They can afford to sign contracts with the most famous and successful people from the world of sports, arts, or show business. Their ads and commercials are everywhere starting from national TV channels and ending with big boards along country roads. But what about smaller companies with ambitions to dominate the market some day? How can they promote their goods and services to a wider audience with their limited funds? The best solution to this problem is to have a website built. A company website can quickly and inexpensively help business owners including individual entrepreneurs attract more prospective clients and take their business to a higher level. It should be said, however, that along with numerous benefits, websites also have some drawbacks that may hinder business progress. Here is a list of advantages and disadvantages of websites for promoting goods or services.
With their own website, an entrepreneur doesn't have to go to the office in order to answer questions about their services over the phone. They can publish business information such as prices, shipment methods, or any other details right on the website. Customers can fill out an order form there, too and a business owner will then perform services or deliver products as specified in the online request.
The primary benefit of having a website is the opportunity to advertise your business to a much wider audience than is possible with traditional publicity methods. Nowadays, more people search for services or goods online. Even if you are a skilled professional working locally, for instance a vet or an interior designer, you would still want people around the globe to know about you, so when they come to your city or state, they may have your contact details under their fingertips. By the way, an external website may allow business owners to have their own page, where they can describe their services and make use of many valuable features. An example of such a site is HireRush.com, which helps service providers get connected with prospective clients in all of the 50 US states.
Another important advantage of having your own website is that it can serve as a good advertising medium with almost no investment required on your part. Building a standard website with basic features is cheap, and its maintenance and updating are not very expensive either. Return on investment, on the other hand, could be considerable. Even without building a website of your own, you can place your advertising materials on other websites, such as YouTube, which allows its users to create their own channels and publish videos about their products or services.
Having a website of your own will also allow you to keep away anyone who want to steal your brand. You need to officially secure your domain name before a cybersquatter comes along and claims it. That could be one of your rivals. With your brand in their hands, they may deal a heavy blow to your reputation. So, a website can not only give an extra boost to your business, but also ensure that your good name is not tarnished by any ill-wishers.
One of the worst things that could happen to a website is a crash. When your website keeps crashing a way too often, the consequences for your business can be disastrous. Imagine that someone is looking for services that you provide, stumbles upon a link to your site, clicks it, and sees the "Server not found" page. They will hardly return to your website in the future. Even large and respectable websites like Facebook or Instagram are not immune from crashes, such as the one that occurred this October. A long starting time may also cause frustration among prospective clients, with a rival website being just a click away.
Another negative aspect of using a website for promotional purposes is spam that you will invariably find in your mailbox soon after launching your own Internet resource. That is because you publish your email address on your site and offer an online form for your clients to complete. To keep spam away you can use some sophisticated anti-spam applications.
Hacking is the plague of the 21-st century. Hackers use the most advanced techniques to illegally get hold of sensitive data, such as people's email addresses, social security numbers, and so on. Not a single website regardless of its budget is 100% protected from cybercriminals. The most recent example is the hackers' attack on Uber.com, which resulted in stealing the personal information of more than 50 million clients of this global taxi service.
Although using a website for business promotion has some disadvantages, they are nothing in comparison with benefits that a business of any type can get. If you want to increase your customer base, advertise your services globally, and ensure that no one else claims your brand, we recommend having your website built as soon as you can.
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My name is Julia and I am a blogger and marketer. I am passionate about marketing, branding and modern business promotion techniques. I also like sharing my knowledge with the world. I have my Master's in Foreign Languages.