6 Benefits of Website In 21st Century Business

This is the 21^st century and every serious business, either big or small needs website because; there has been a dramatic shift in the way things get done, and businesses are not left out in this shift. The shift being discussed here is mostly attributable to the advent and continuous penetration of the internet.

As the internet becomes more accessible and easily available to people from all walks of life in virtually every part of the world, prompting them to engage in business activities online, business owners are possibly forced to adopt internet-based tools in their business operations. And one of those tools that has been very popular and effective in the last 20 years or more is unarguably website.

How website became an effective and popular business tool needs no surprise because, just by considering the idea of having one, its popularity becomes even clearer, and its effectiveness is intrinsically linked to its popularity.

This unarguably effective tool has been able to somehow replace the old way of doing business, which involved complex and time-consuming approaches to business operations, requiring business owners to engage hundreds of employees in data processing, taking manual inventory of business data as well as preaching the good image of the business, in order to have a substantive number of customers that could enable them remain in business.

This way of doing business or getting customers per se is cumbersome, inefficient and mostly very expensive. However, the way websites help us interact and do business around the world in the 21^st century is quite revolutionary, as they unavoidably play a pivotal role in our daily business activities.

Nowadays, most aspects of business that required having employees in form of sales agents or representatives can be done with a well-designed business website. And all it takes for businesses to get a sizable number of new customers is by pushing their website on the web and on social media, and new customers will keep on coming through to check out the products or services they’ve got to offer, as such products or services are displayed on the website in their finest details.

Aside these advantages of having business website, I’ll now focus on six specific benefits of website in 21^st century business. Now, this is not to say that the points outlined below are the only benefits of website in 21^st century business. But it’s to focus on the topic of discussion, and to be as precise as possible. So, let’s get into it right away.

1. Credibility

Website is a credibility machine for businesses these days as more people take businesses with website more seriously. Having your own business website sets you and your business greatly apart from your competitors who don’t. And as a result, your business becomes much more valuable and credible in the sight of present and prospective customers because; they see it as a verifiable personal online identity of a physical business. Whereas, businesses without website don’t have such identity.

2. Convenience

When it comes to having a business in the 21^st century, convenience is paramount on both the side of the customers and business owners. Unfortunately, the old way of doing business ‘without a functional website’ doesn’t offer the kind of convenience that customers are looking for in a 21^st century business. This is even more evident as statistical data of shoppers in the U.S show that 227.5 million people were recorded to have made their purchases on online businesses in the year 2020 alone, and that number is bound to climb higher in the coming years.

That figure becomes more interesting especially when considering the fact that, the total U.S population is just a little over 330 million people. Judging from the data above, it’s clear that the convenience of buying online and having goods delivered hassle-free is a major driving factor behind the increasing number of online shoppers, not only in the U.S but all over the world. And this is also why every serious business needs a website in the 21^st century.

3. Leads Generation

Perhaps, one of the most pressing needs of businesses in the 21^st century is how to get consistent number of leads that could be possibly turned into customers. And a critical study of how businesses get leads shows that most businesses get them through their websites. In a sense, website is a magnet that businesses use to pull in leads, and this is usually done by building a list through newsletter subscriptions, mailing list and much more.

If for instance, you have a website through which you could convince prospective customers to subscribe to your newsletters, then you know you’ve got an upper edge in getting customers. This is so, because; so long as they remain in your newsletter or mailing list, they’ll eventually pay for your products or services as you keep them updated on how your product or services could help them solve a problem. And this couldn’t have been possible without a website.

4. Brand Ambassador

These days, websites serve as ambassador to brands or businesses as they’re deeply connected to the business and people interact with them as though they’re interacting with human ambassador, sales or business representatives. This is more so, because; most of the information or details about businesses that would require sales or business representatives to give out to present or prospective customers could be easily made available to them in form of text or visuals through a well-designed website. And this will in turn help businesses save loads of money in running cost over time. Another crucial benefit that is peculiar to websites is that they stand firm in promoting businesses online 24/7, 365 days a year. And this is practically impossible for both employees and business owners to do. Therefore, it’s easy to say without hesitation that websites promote efficiency in business operations. I mean, how cool is that?

5. Global Visibility And Accessibility

Having website has become so advantageous in adding visibility and accessibility to businesses and brands as people from all over the world can see and have access to the products or services that they’ve got to offer. This enables them to sell to a wider audience, which in turn generates more sales, and more sales means more money in their business accounts. Aside this, they’ll be able to serve present and prospective customers without the barriers associated with just having a physical business location. How good could that be? Could it ever be any better?

6. Response Automation

One critical aspect of the 21^st century business is that, it serves a large number of customers at the same time, usually cutting across geographical and economic boundaries. And this makes it difficult for business owners to respond to all the complaints or needs of their customers in a timely manner, without having a website to enable them automate answers to some of those complaints or needs.

For instance, businesses with website can answer most if not all of the repetitive questions of their customers through a section of their website called FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). This simple FAQ section will relieve the business owner the time and energy required for answering those questions to other areas of their business, thereby enhancing productivity.

Judging from the current trajectory of things, businesses without website will soon find it very difficult to gain and retain customers, as majority of the customer population in the 21^st century are tech-savvy, and are conversant with the level of convenience that businesses with website offer. Therefore, it’s strongly advised that every serious business irrespective of size, should have their own website that will help speak volume and credibility to their brand, at the same time, affording them all the benefits that having business website brings. The world has changed from analogue to digital in the 21^st century particularly as it relates to business operations, and we can’t change that but can only flow with the trends because; change as they say is the only constant, every other thing is temporal.