Can Your Business Survive Without a Web Presence?

When we talk about an online presence, we are discussing a relatively young concept that some business owners are still hesitant to embrace. It’s understandable. Businesses have lived or died for all of time without being concerned about the Internet, so why should that change now? An online presence assists a small business in many different ways, so let’s compare them to your company to see if you can skip this whole Internet fad.

It Shortens the Distance Between You and the Customer

The Internet is increasingly accessible from just about anywhere these days, save for the middle of a desert or the tops of a mountain. Some businesses provide a service not easily accessible to the general public, such as machinery moving services. A company could simplify customer interaction by providing a digital catalog of services that would otherwise require visiting a remote location or length descriptions of intangible services. Customers, potential or otherwise, are able to access the website of a business and make direct purchases through the online store, whether or not the actual store is even open. Some physical retailers use web-based POS systems to meet customers halfway. Although, if all your customers live in deserts and mountaintops, you probably don’t need a website.

It Builds Stronger Relationships Faster

An integral part of online presence is social media. It serves the purpose of injecting your business into conversations where they are happening. You can communicate directly with shoppers, involve them in competitions, celebrate them on your page and let them get to know you without visiting your actual store. If you feel like you have greater access to the public from your physical locations than via social media avenues, like, if you have a store in every single living room around the world, then you can probably skip the social media stuff.

It Makes You Easier to See

People spend a lot of time online and, quite likely, a lot less time at your storefront window display. You have merchandise, whether products or services, that you want people to be aware of. This merchandise changes and adapts to the marketplace over time, and you’ll want shoppers to be aware of these changes, rather than think of you as old fashioned or obsolete. An established online presence keeps your merchandise where the eyes are already looking, or at least, closer than your physical location. Although your store might be on everyone’s way to work, so if that’s the case, don’t worry about your visibility.

It Builds Trust with the Consumer

Over half of modern consumers say they wouldn’t trust a business without a website. Aside from visibility, your online presence creates familiarity and reputation, which are two of the more important elements of trust. The more a person sees your brand floating around online, through content you generate or posts shared by others, the more they feel that you are established and less likely to scam them. It really isn’t more complicated than that.

A small corner mom-and-pop shop must establish trust to build loyalty among their clientele, otherwise they could be small because they are dishonest and poor business owners. An online presence is sort of like puffing up your chest to seem bigger to those who worry about such things, but it is effective. It’s entirely possible, however, that you just happen to have the world’s best newsletter or mailer that does the heavy lifting of your brand building efforts, so you can skip this reason too if that’s you.

The reality is that the Internet is here to stay and it is a bigger part of our lives than anyone predicted. More importantly, its influence grows stronger by the day and shows no sign of waning. You may have a business that has had some success without bothering with all this online presence hullabaloo, and you may continue to have success, but the odds are less in your favor than they were in the past and the future isn’t looking so good either for the pure brick-and-mortar business.

Conclusion

If you’re satisfied with the size of your business, you can probably hold off on a web presence for the time being, but then, you wouldn’t be reading this if you were, would you? It is encouraging that you have an awareness of what you need and about how important and valuable your web presence is and  how far it can take your business. Just keep plugging away at it and you will get where you are going.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a complimentary assessment of your online presence, let’s have coffee.