5 Great Reasons Why Local Business Should Have a Website

Every business should have its own website, but according to a recent study of small to medium businesses, not even half had websites. While it's true that not every business needs a website, here are 5 great reasons why having a website is a good, no great, idea.

The Yellow Pages is dying

Recent statistics show that nearly 90 percent of consumers go online to research products and services before purchasing. That's a lot. By not having a website, you're excluding up to 90 percent of potential customers and clients.

Selling yourself

Every business exists to solve a problem. Chances are many other people have that same problem, and are looking for a solution. With a website, you can let people know how you've solved the problem, and that you'll be more than happy to solve their problem too.

24/7 sales-team

Unless your website has been outsourced to servers hosted in a small village in India, your website will be up and running on the internet every second, minute, hour and day of the year. Having a website is like having a sales team with insomnia - it never sleeps.

Target your market

Having a website lets you target a specific market. Different things appeal to different people, and simple things such as the words, colours and images you use will determine who stays on your website and who doesn't.

The great thing about a website is you can also drive traffic to your site quite easily. Google's AdWords product will let you place ads and links to your site above Google's organic search results. This means you can be ranked at the very top without spending a lot of time trying to get there organically.

Because 50 percent don't

That's right - by just having a website you're putting yourself above 50 percent of your competitors. With numbers like that, having a website is a no-brainer. There really is no other marketing or advertising technique that'll push you above your competition as significantly as having a website.

If someone walked into your shop today and told you that for a small investment, he could automatically put you above half your competition, you'd be a fool not to take him seriously.

So there are 5 simple reasons for small and local businesses to get a website. There are countless other reasons too, but these five should have convinced you to get yourself and your local business a website.