Should All Organisations, No Matter What Their Situation, Design A Website?

Posted by Online Reputation Handbook

November 14, 2009

In these tricky financial times, it appears that more and more people are moving towards the internet for purchases and away from conventional high street shops. But does every company need to have a web site?

There will be those organisations that most likely do not need a web site, such as a small food supplier who may well have stock that is only on the shelf for a few days at the most and so does not lend itself to online marketing. Perhaps the best option for companies such as this is to have a presence in Yell.com or another of the local listing websites, so that anyone looking for a local organisation will locate them there. They will also be able to access basic details such as opening times, telephone number etc. This should prove enough for such a business.

The large hypermarkets all have web sites that can be used for Online Marketing and have efficient delivery services to make certain that groceries arrive quickly. However this sort of service may well be beyond the resources of a small local greengrocer, or the like and is most likely unnecessary.

Another sort of business that may need a minimal web presence is bespoke clothing, such as wedding dresses. Their web site may well be a showcase of a assortment of styles and prices to tempt the user, in the hope that they will come to the boutique and take the next steps such as measurements, fittings and final purchase. It does not seem practicable to offer these aspects of their service online, although contact details are essential and customer feedback would also be useful.

There is a convincing argument that for small local firms, an advert in the local free newspaper and word of mouth recommendations may well bring in enough local sales to keep the firm going. But what about the future, as more and more people look online for their key purchases, it is really only a matter of time before they look for more and more of their daily requirements online in numbers.

What is really appealing about even just a small showcase web site is that once it is up and running, it’s available all the time for potential customers to find whenever they do a web search. So in that situation, it would seem like a good idea for the bulk of organisations to have a web site to show that they are being up to date and so should look more appealing to modern day customers.

Where companies do have web sites it will be important that these are optimised so that when a user carries out a search in Google, for example, their Search Engine Placement will be on the first page of the organic listings, in the hope that this will result in an order, or an email or a phone call for an appointment.

The company would need to use the services of a reputable SEO Company to undertake the work, and various checks can be made to make certain that the company is able to deliver the right results.

Online Business, Promotion and Marketing