What every small business owner needs to know to get the perfect website for their business

If you aren't already online, the Internet can be an intimidating place. But you know that everyone seems to have a website these days, you know small businesses who are making money with them, and you've heard that a good website can level the playing field between big businesses and small. You want to be competitive, and you don't want to be left behind, but you don't know where to start.

We understand how confusing Internet technology can be, and put together this guide to help explain what is happening on the Internet, why every small business must have a website to survive in the 21st century, and what you need to know in order to launch a successful, competitive business on the Internet.

Why every small business must have a website

"Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without talking about the other."
Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft

Websites are to the 21st century what the fax machine was in the 1980s and the business card was in the 1890s. No serious business would be without them. What would a customer have thought about a business without a fax machine or business card? That's how they think of businesses without websites today.

Benefits of a website to small business

Small business owners report seeing a broad range of benefits since launching their websites. For some, these have included attracting new customers, new types of customers, reducing unit costs, and increasing profits and sales (see Figure 1).

Source: NFIB.
Benefits to small businesses from having a website include attracting new customers and increasing profits and sales.

Other benefits include:

Lifestyle choice - Entrepreneurs can support the lifestyle they want in the location they want. Now you don't have to open a storefront in the city if you'd rather sell handmade products from a cabin in the woods.
Carving out a niche - Niche products and services become available to a broader geographical range of customers than might otherwise be able to find them.
Keeping a hand in - Websites let people interested in making a career change or "semi-retiring" to keep active in their business interests without a large commitment of time or overhead.

Consumers make decisions online

Having a website is more important than you might think:

Sales increase, both online and offline, as result of having a website, especially one enabled for e-commerce. Although they may ultimately choose to purchase at a local store, consumers use the Internet to research product information and prices before deciding to buy (Channel Intelligence).
Product research - 83% of Internet users have researched a product online.
Expect to find the information online - 63% of all Americans expect a business to have a website that gives them information about a product they are considering buying.
More likely to buy - 47% of Internet users say that if a store provides product information online, even if it doesn't sell directly from its website, they will more likely to go to the physical store to buy the product.
Gain business - 35% of small businesses with websites gain 10 to 99 % of sales directly or indirectly from their websites.
Attracting new customers and increasing profits and sales are some of the benefits to small businesses from having a website (see Figure 1).

Competition is fierce

You need to keep up and get ahead wherever possible:

Competition is increasing - 53% of small business owners describe the current business climate as highly competitive, and 61% of small business owners say it is more or much more competitive than it was three years ago, according to NFIB.
Technology is key - Some of the strategies small businesses are using to stay competitive include better service, reducing overhead, maximizing technology, and targeting missed customers. Websites are the ideal way to accomplish all of these goals (see Figure 2).

Source: NFIB.
Quality, service, and cost are where small business owners are focusing in order
to stay competitive.

If you are convinced that you need a website, and just want to learn more about how you can get a professional looking website for a reasonable price with all the features necessary to draw customers, get leads, and make sales, check out our top picks for website builders and design services.

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