Small businesses have had a tough time the past few years with the repercussions of the global economic downturn that has put many people out of business and many others out of work. While there were lots of people who were put out of business, there were still many who survived and managed to ride out the recession. Now, these businesses are beginning to see the economy lifting up again which means that they now need to compete very aggressively to beat their competitors.
The debate that small businesses do not need to be online has been going on now for many years with people suggesting that there is no need. This is totally wrong because the whole point of a website is to market your business and if people are going online to search for local businesses then it is essential that you have a presence there in the form of a website.
Many people who oppose those small businesses need a website are people who have either been ripped off or had a bad experience with a web design or people who do not understand computers or the internet very well and so reject it as a viable marketing place. In both cases they have valid reasons to have these negative views on the internet, however, they are biased views and not really based on fact or logic but rather bad experience.
When looking how much to spend you need to weigh the amount of return you need to see each month from having a website and marketing it. At these times it may be worth speaking to an SEO consultant to have them highlight the benefits and cons of what you are trying to rank for. There are many SEO consultants out in the market so it might be worth doing some extensive research accompanied with references before you commit to any one consultant.
You also need to think about how it can help you when you see a client face to face and leave them with your plastic business card. They no doubt will have a look at you online and if your website looks good accompanied with images and references then that can be enough to help you close a new business account. Also if people hear about you from word and mouth, they still will want to have a look at what you do and some examples of your products and services, and so a website again will be ideal.
Small businesses need websites simply because it is the way the world has moved and to keep up with the market trends they need to be online. Also, many people communicate via email now and an email comes with a website and its domain which again adds to the professionalism of your company by having an email the same as your website domain.