Why have a website?

Many businesses and organisations have long been without websites and when looking at having one produced one of the most common questions we are asked is "why have a website?".

Some businesses will simply use their sites as online business cards while others will base their entire business around it and ultimately your reasons for having a website depend largely on both what you want from it and what you are willing to put into it. A website left to its own devices is largely useless but at FirmSites we deliver highly professional websites that you are in complete control of and they are designed to allow you to make the most of what the web has to offer.

So with that said, here are the main advantages:

Open all the time - unlike a phone number or real world business premises your website can be open 24/7 at no extra cost. The information can be accessible even when you are fast asleep making it valuable for customers who want to find things out at odd hours. Think of how many times you have not had a chance during the day to look up a business and then in the evening they are closed so you cant get the information you need from them, a website can solve this.

Unlimited space - Staying with this theme of information on tap, your website has an unlimited number of pages so in theory the amount of information you put up is endless. This is of course entirely up to you, but unlike a brochure or an advert in the local paper your website can have everything about your business with no concern over cost per word. It can also include images and video which other media forms can't

Always up to date - This information, again unlike printed form, can be changed via the CMS whenever you need so it never goes out of date. Having this flexibility means your information can change in real time and you wont have to explain to customers why something they have read is out of date.

Accessible anywhere - The great thing about having all this information online is that it can be accessed anywhere in the world. So weather your business is local, regional, national or even international you can be sure that your customers near or far will be able to see it.

Provides an information bridge - Traditionally if a customer was interested they had to directly speak with a business which was highly time consuming. More than ever people will look at a multitude of businesses and won't want to speak to every single one. Many businesses have said to FirmSites "we like that customers have to call" well that is all well and good but with the Internet you wont lose that. People that want to speak to you still will, but you wont be missing out on the customers that has no time or interest in calling every name in the phone book.

Improves advertising - This in turn improves you other forms of advertising. If you had an advert in the paper saying "great quality workmanship" they have no way of proving that short of visiting you, but with your website you can put pictures up and back up your claims as well as stick to key points in the expensive print form purely designed to entice people to your website where you can encourage the sale.

Improves image - Often when looking through a newspaper or even online people will make a lot of judgements purely based on the look of your website (or lack of one!!) that's why FirmSites ensures all its customers have a professional website that helps give the right image to their customers.

Sell online - For those that wish they can sell online using the eCommerce system or take online bookings or quotes via the forms system.

Keep in touch with customers - Our social networking and email marketing tools help you keep in touch with your customers and inform them of latest offers and product information.

Increased visibility - We make sure that you are listed in the search engines and give you tips on how to make your website easy to find for your customers helping drive new business.

Mapping - If your business relies on people finding it, such as a restaurant, then we can install maps on your site where customers can get directions making you easier to find.

These are just some of the benefits but you get the idea that there is a lot a website can do. If you are willing to put in the time then the skys the limit. Just get in touch and a design concept can be produced showing you exactly what a solution tailored to your business can do.