0. It's a standard.
If you don't have a website, you're not in the game. Everyone has one...You're not buying that? Okay, please read on.

1. Websites will soon replace the Yellow Pages.
The trend now instead of pulling out the Yellow Pages book, is to search for whatever, like "auto repair", in Google and then surf over to an auto repair business' website to get contact information and other information one needs. Since most people are on their computers during the day, this is much more convenient. Since it is more convenient, a website will soon, if not already, give you more leads than a Yellow Pages advertisement. A website can make more of an impression on your customers and you can put more information on your site than can fit in a large color Yellow Page advertisement. Plus, they cost about the same.

2. More people are using online advertising.
Another trend is that since more and more people are online, using online news websites for example, there is more online advertising. For example, even Yellow Pages have websites now. And in their online versions of Yellow Pages, the advertisements have live links to business' websites. Online versions of Guns and Ammo have graphical advertisements that link to Gun Shops' websites. With Google heavily invested in online advertisements, this trend is only going upward. And with the foreseeable convergence of television and internet, television advertisements will all become somekind of internet advertisement. It is best to be prepared for the future!

3. We are in a computer age.
People used to drive from store to store to compare businesses and products. Not anymore, we are in the computer age. A recent survey of American household shows that in 2005, over 70% of households are using the internet. 70%!!! Everyone you know probably uses the internet. People will compare products, business practices and policies, get hours, and compare prices right over the net. If you do not have a website. You just might lose out. Let's say some person who lives in Seattle is in the market for some hammers. He needs them quickly. So he types "Seattle, hardware store" into Google. He picks the first five stores that have websites, compares them, and then decides which one he will go to. If you don't have a website, you will not be in the game. If you don't have a professional-looking and well functioning website, you will also not be in the game.

4. A website can save you money.
What if you are an established local business with a strong customer base? Do you still need a website? Of course, I say yes. But of course that is really up to you. But if a company like Home Depot found a way to make a website work. So can you. By looking at their site, we can see that they probably save a ton on phone bills by putting a lot of information on their website. Questions can also be answered through their website via email. This saves money as well. If you have business customers, information for them can be on the websites as well. Forms can be downloaded and uploaded saving a lot of time.

5. A website can make you money.
Home Depot sells almost everything on their website. Yes, an online store! Even if it doesn't make sense for you to put your entire inventory on your website, you can perhaps put an inventory list with prices. It is possible that once people find a product they like from Home Depot they can just buy it over the net for delivery when that product needs to be replaced. There are also other things, like Gift Cards and software, that can easily be sold over the internet.

If you have any questions, please contact us. Thank you!