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By Carissa Foley
As businesses prepare to move into 2015, an online presence needs to be the #1 area to invest advertising dollars. When evaluating advertising dollar allocation small business owners have a tendency to look at their website as a cost rather than an investment. After analyzing industry trends, here are 3 reasons your small business can’t afford to be offline.
1. Your Website and Your Visibility Online Provide Instant Credibility
The Internet is undoubtedly the first place consumers look for a product or service. Consumers are more and more tech savvy and they want to be able to do their research before making purchases. For that reason it is imperative that a business owner have a website. A business without a website is going to look far less credible than a business that a consumer can research online. Additionally, you’ll want to pay attention to the look and feel of your website as consumers make snap judgements that determine whether they stay on your website or leave. Whether it’s fair or not, we all judge books by their covers!
2. Consumers are Searching Online & Competitors are Spending Money to be Online
Any business owner can do a quick search online and see a list of at least 10 local competitors that are spending advertising dollars to show up in search. The reason for this is obvious; that’s where consumers are looking for products and services. Consumers want to find what they are looking for, and if you’re not showing up, chances are your competitors are going to take that business.
3. Mobile Devices & Digital Consumption
Over two-thirds of Americans have smart phones and that number is increasing with tablets and smart phone technology that serve all basic functions of a computer. Get this: “Americans now own four digital devices on average, and the average U.S. consumer spends 60 hours a week consuming content across devices.” That’s from a Neilson report put out earlier this year. And typically, when a person is searching on a mobile device, they have an immediate need. As a business owner it is absolutely necessary to pay attention to mobile and capitalize on this consumer.
By having a website you are not only making your business look more credible, you are also positioning your business to get more business from search that would otherwise go to your competitors. Online usage is only going to increase as consumers are looking for the next new and exciting piece of technology that they can use to find information they need. If your online presence isn’t where you think it should be, now is the time to fix that and capture more business moving into the New Year!