8 Ways a Web Site Can Save You Time and Money

If you're still thinking about starting a web site, here are eight factors to help you make up your mind.

From streamlining customer feedback to free advertising, a web site can help you manage your business more efficiently and cost-effectively. Below are the top ways a web site not only helps you save money, but make money. A strong site, after all, can give you back some much-needed time — now and well into the future.

Generate awareness about your company. The Internet is global and therefore has an extensive reach. By virtue of creating a web site, your company and products are immediately available to the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, your message reaches millions of people with different ages and nationalities, and in a variety of professions, each day, with minimal effort and investment.

“The first step in building an online marketing campaign is to ensure your web site is designed from a marketing perspective as well as from a usability standpoint,” says Elizabeth Ross, founding partner of Webweavers, a Yahoo! developer. “In other words, a web site isn’t about technology. It’s about people.”

Facilitate customer feedback and demand. A web site can gather feedback quickly and easily through online surveys. If somebody is already taking the time to visit your web site, why not take advantage of that time to solicit some quick feedback about a new product or service you’re introducing? These surveys can appear alongside your home page or during checkout. A web site also provides an easy way for customers to email you directly with questions or concerns.

Learn more about your customer base. You can use your site to build customer databases, mailing lists, and user profiles so that you can get a better idea of who your customers are in order to serve them better. “Most e-commerce stores, however, are able to provide superior customer service because they get to know their customers through their buying habits,” Ross says.

Change your message as needed. Printed materials are not as easy to revise, change, or repurpose. Plus, printing costs can be expensive. It’s easy to change online information, which gives you flexibility and can allow you to test your marketing efforts, pricing information, and more. If you find something’s not working, you can change it with the click of a button.

Establish your brand. Improve your competitive advantage by presenting a certain image via your web site. Small businesses can have the same web presence as a multinational corporation, which can allow your company to be taken more seriously. “Chances are, there is something about your business that distinguishes you from the crowd,” Ross says. “Whatever that unique selling proposition turns out to be, it’s imperative that your web site be designed to immediately let the end user in on it. How? Through a custom-designed look and feel and carefully crafted copy.”

Promote e-commerce. Make direct sales to customers through credit card purchases, or if it better suits your business, via an order form on your web site that customers can print at home and send with check, money order, or credit card information.

Promote yourself more cost-effectively. You can promote your company online 24/7 through web advertising, email newsletters, and newsgroups.

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