Nearly 20% of Irish SMEs have no online presence, such as a website, causing ¾ of customers to say that they found it frustrating when a business they wanted to interact with was invisible online. A similar number said that if a company has a web presence, they were more likely to get their business.

Having a website is essentially your online business card to potential customers, which is why we’re going to explore why your business should have one:

Credibility

More and more people use the internet to search for products and services. Without a website, potential customers are more likely to go to your competitors who do have one.

Information

Having a website makes it a lot easier and quicker to update product or services information. You can also easily update customers on new products or services, upcoming events, promotions and news. It’s also simple and instant to update outdated product or service information.

Accessibility

A website is available to regular and potential customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round. This is especially helpful as people can view your products or services outside of business hours.

Showcasing

Websites are a great way to showcase your products or services. You can include a photo gallery, testimonials and showcase what makes your business unique from competitors.

Time Saving

Providing information to customers can be time consuming. A website allows you to provide detailed information on your website, about your products or services.

Customer Service

Having a website doesn’t mean you’re disconnected from your customers. It’s quite the opposite, in fact. You can tailor your website to include a section on FAQs, share articles or newsletters or even create a blog. This type of personalisation will allow the customer to connect to your product or service.

Now you know why it’s important to create a website for your business. It will definitely give you an edge considering not many Irish SMEs have tapped into this resource. Next week we’ll look at how to go about setting up a website, so stay tuned!