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Is a Poor Website Costing You Significant Sales?
The continued growth of the internet should
not come as a surprise to you, but if your
business does not have a website (or has a
poor one) then the potential costs could be
much bigger than you realize.
 Research
commissioned by web hosting company 1&1
Internet has found that 53% of UK consumers
would walk away from any business that does
not have a website; while 85% of consumers
would have reservations about buying from a
business with a poor quality website.
A further survey revealed that 20% of SME’s
do not recognise the amount of importance
the public places on business websites;
while 20% do not believe that a poor website
could have a negative effect on sales.
The research also showed that a huge number
of businesses overestimate the amount of
time and money it takes to produce a simple
website. 67% of SMEs drastically
overestimate the time it would take to build
a simple site, and 63% overestimated the
basic costs of a website by a massive 400%.
Andreas Gauger, CEO 1&1 Internet, said “It
is clear that consumers nowadays expect
every business to have a professional web
presence and are turned-off by second-rate
websites, yet clearly many SMEs are confused
over the importance of the issue. If
businesses want to maximise sales, they must
be online with a website that gives the
right impression.”
Gauger added, “It is concerning to see that
in 2006 so many UK businesses are
misinformed about the minimal cost and time
needed to build a simple website. Any
business owner can easily set up a website
themselves for under £40 a year and within
30 minutes – it may prove to be the most
worthwhile half an hour they spend this
year.”
Don’t forget that in terms of websites,
simple does not necessarily mean
bad; most of the worst websites out
there are those that are too complicated to
understand and navigate. If you feel unsure
about creating a site then why not look at
getting an external web designer to do your
site; this may sound expensive, but there
are plenty of good web designers who work
with (and sometimes specifically for) small
businesses at un-extortionate prices!
Whether you decide to create a site yourself
or get external help; the most important
thing is to make sure your website matches
your needs. While everyone is happy to talk
about the benefits of a good website, most
tend to ignore the potential downfalls of a
site that fails to do what you need. It is
important to remember that having a bad
website can damage your business; and you
should make your decisions carefully to get
the best result.
Visit our Internet and Technology portal for
more information on how the web and IT can
help your business.
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