Is it Important to Have a Website?

Let’s get straight to the point. I know you have a short attention span so here are the reasons why you need to have a website!

1. You need a website because it is a platform where you can express yourself. If you’re a shoemaker, get a website and start a blog where you talk about making shoes. If you’re a teacher, use a website to update your students’ parents of what’s going on in your classroom. If you’re a musician, you can post videos of you making music or even write down your composed lyrics. Your website is an extension of your art. It’s a reflection of your passion. Express your ideas and thoughts using your website.

2. If you’re a business owner, you can use your website as a source of information about your product or service. You can put the history of your business on your website. you can tell your visitors/readers stories about your business. You can put the location, the store hours, the directions and the prices on your website as well. In the old days, once you close up shop, you’re done for the day. People will pass by your store and once they see that it’s closed, they know that business is out that time. They know that they cannot ask the owner/cashier/manager/custodian for information about your business. But, with a website, your business information will be present for your current and future customers to see 24 hours, 7 days a week. You don’t even have to be at your store to provide them with the information they need. You can give them your business information even while you sleep. That’s a powerful thing.

Justin Beiber! (Did I buy an additional 5 minutes of your attention?)

3. You can sell stuff on your website. Like #2, if you’re a business owner, you can open up an online store and receive orders there. Opening up an online store makes it easy for your customers to buy from you. Imagine, (ultra-long sentence alert) if you have a shoe store in San Jose CA and someone from Wyoming wants to buy a pair from you, wouldn’t it be convenient for Mr. Wyoming to be able to get up in the middle of the night, go to his computer and order it right away online so that when you wake up, you can see the order on your email right away? Instead of him waiting until the morning to give you a long-distance call to make the order, he can log on to the internet right away, which is the time when he’s most eager to buy! If you make it easy for your customers to buy from you, the more they will buy from you! Makes sense, right?

4. A website can increase your credibility, either as a business or as an industry expert. Most people today check the internet first before stepping out of the house. If they want to try out a new restaurant, they’ll check to see first if it has a website (so they can look at information about the restaurant like I said in #2). If they want to join a new gym, they research about it on the internet and gather information. Heck, even in blind dates – People go to Google.com and type in their dates’ names just to see if they can get any information before the date starts! That’s the reality of life today. The internet has made information very very veeery available to everyone. In that light, I’ve observed that people (not all of them) find businesses without websites less credible than businesses with websites. And to me, that’s understandable. Why? Because a website is not that difficult to have. It’s actually pretty easy. So, a business without its own website sends this message to the public:

A) “I cannot afford a website” – which means the business probably isn’t making any money.

B) “I don’t know anything about websites” – which means that the owners are out of touch with today’s technology, oblivious to its existence that they’re not taking advantage of it.

C) “I know about websites but I don’t want to learn it and I’m not having one anytime soon.” – Really? What you’re saying is that you’re a dinosaur who doesn’t want to adapt and will become extinct soon.

As for the industry expert, having a website or a blog is a great way to show your market that you know your craft well. Having a website and starting a blog add to the credibility of a person who claims to be an industry expert by being present online. If I want to hire a personal trainer and I was given a choice between 2 complete strangers – one who has a website and one who doesn’t, who do you think I’ll choose?

The internet is here to stay. Will you embrace it?

Your turn. Now that I’ve given you some reasons, what other reasons can you think of on why having a website is important?


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