You probably never thought about it like this, but your small business website is your 24-hour-a-day brochure. A business website allows anyone to learn about your business – who you are, what you do, your philosophy – 24 hours a day!

So, is it important to have a 24-hour-a-day brochure for your business available on the Internet?  The answer is obvious.

According to InternetWorldStats.com, there are over 210 million Internet users in the United States alone, representing 69.6% of the U.S. and 90.4% of users in North America.

Many people,  including myself, would rather use the Internet than the phone book to find a business. It’s easier to do an online search. I get so frustrated trying to figure out what “category” the business I’m looking for is listed under in the phone book.

The annual, recurring costs for having a website are minimal compared to the costs of print advertising. For approximately $50 - $150 annually for domain registration and webhosting, plus the initial costs for the web design, your small business can have it’s own piece of real estate on the Internet, a website.

The benefits of your business’ online presence are many.

• Existing customers can obtain important information about your business during off-hours (hours of operation, address, directions, rates, products/services)
• New customers can learn about your business at their leisure without having to wait for a brochure or for you to answer the phone.
• Potential customers can pre-screen your business based on what they see on your website.  Have you ever seen someone’s website on the side of their van, then gone home to see what the business was about? How they presented themselves on the Internet?
• Provide helpful information to your customers, such as hours of operation, directions, company info, clients, testimonials, additional resources.
• Consumers can purchase your products/services without leaving home

There are many purposes for having a small business website on the Internet. You must decide what that purpose is for your business and then have the website and it’s content designed accordingly. Do you want to:

• Provide helpful information about your business (i.e., locations, hours, directions, class schedules)
• Provide info about your products/services (i.e., photos, product specifications, product reviews, class schedules)
• Sell your products/services online (e-commerce, direct sale of products/services)
• Display your portfolio of Work
• Provide additional resources for your customer (i.e. other resource links to get information)

In conclusion, there is almost no reason that a small business would NOT want to have a website on the Internet. The benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, if there are any. Whether it simply be to provide information about your business or to sell products/services directly, it is beneficial for ALL businesses to have an online Internet presence by having their own website.