I don't think we need a website

When I started this business over a decade ago, that was the comment I got about 7 out of 10 times when I tried to approach a business about doing a website for them. In fact, it was very hard in the beginning. A lot of people thought that the WWW was just a fad; it wouldn't last, or didn't even know what the Internet was. They didn't see the vision of the commercial aspect of the web, or even how future generations would surpass the Internet and go directly to retrieving their information from a cell phone instead of a computer.

Within the last 10 years, times have changed. I have gone from seeking out new clients to trying to keep up with the requests of individuals who now realize…. Wow, we have to get on the Internet to survive.

Now, I get the comment… I don't think we need a website, we need to be on Facebook, we need to send out e-mail marketing, we need cell phone applications… well, let me just answer that with this. All of those "auxiliary" services mean nothing without a stable professional website.

As a business owner, need to consider the following:

1. You still need a foundation for your Internet Marketing. Even the bible refers to, "A foolish man builds his house upon the sand". Can you get by with a "free" Facebook Page? Absolutely you can. Does it look creditable and acceptable to your target market, or even to search engines, to not have a professional website to back it? Absolutely. You still need that strong foundation for your visitors to come to either get more information or find out more information about you.
   
2. If you have something different you want to offer your clients from what your competitors offer, you need to have a website to house those applications or services. These cannot be added to a social networking site, yet you can reference them from your social networking page.
   
3. What are your competitors doing? How are you going to tell others about your site if you do not have a site? You need a fully qualified registered domain if you want to do search engine promotion, back link promotions, e-mail marketing, and other services…
   
4. Social Networking does have its place and it is very important. Use your social network page to make announcements, or to drive others back to your website to gain more information.
   

Anyone in business should have a professional website. If not, you are losing out on millions of sales leads a day.

What I tell my clients (or potential clients) today is… if you are not doing it, you can bet your competitor is doing it.