Saving...Whether you’re a coach, a counselor, run a practice or clinic, or own a small business, a website can be a great investment in the future. Here’s why.
#1: Having a website gives potential clients or customers round-the-clock access to your practice or business. Your customers can read about you and your offerings when it’s convenient to them, rather than having to wait for your business hours to make contact.
#2: A website adds credibility to your practice or business. According to a 2010 Pew research study, 79% of adults use the internet … clients expect to find you online, and will wonder why your competitors have a web presence and you don’t.
#3: Print yellow pages and newspaper ads don’t work well anymore. Newspaper circulation in developed countries has been falling for decades … people go online to find their news. And a 2010 study showed that 53.85% of those surveyed never use the yellow pages, but 100% of them used Google to find products and services. And that means money spent on traditional advertising could be better spent elsewhere.
#4: Websites can help you reach new markets and geographical areas. Your site gives you a round-the-clock presence that can be accessed by anyone with internet access, anywhere in the world. And it helps with word-of-mouth referrals … even if someone can’t recall your phone number or address, they’re likely to remember your name … and your name can be googled.
#5: Online catalogs and brochures don’t need to be reprinted if they’re out of date. This is a matter of both convenience and cost; it’s a lot easier and cheaper to log onto your website and add or change a product or an address than to reprint a glossy brochure or catalog.
#6: You can open an online store or provide your clients with an online payment option. This is a convenience to potential clients/customers that adds to the attractiveness of your site as a place to do business.
#7: Keep clients aware of special events, offers, and business changes. This can be accomplished via special announcements on your site, blog posts, and/or special mailings. A popular marketing approach is the opt-in mailing list, which you can use to keep current and potential clients informed, either via broadcast announcements or an email newsletter.
#8: Provide existing clients with a place where they can get support. This may include a contact page for support, an FAQs page, articles and white papers, tutorials, or a community forum.
#9: It’s easier and cheaper to give your website address than to mail a brochure. Your website address can be added to your letterhead, added to your email signature, or placed on your business card. Or, it can be scrawled on a scrap of paper after you’ve given your elevator speech. Print brochures, on the other hand, are expensive to develop and print, expensive to distribute, and a hassle to maintain.
#10: A strong website presence is cost effective advertising and gives you a competitive advantage. Running a series of print ads and placing ads in the yellow pages can quickly run into thousands of dollars … and you’ll need to repeat the expenditure next year. As noted in #3 above, this may not be a great way for the small business to spend its limited advertising dollars these days. Here’s an interesting article on using your website as a marketing tool for your business or practice.
