By now, a lot of people would agree that being ‘present online’ is key for any business.
The internet is a world away from old-school marketing, and if you are not online, you will be missing out on great opportunities for your business.
A website alone can work as an employee and a key resource for your business, focusing on many different types of digital marketing strategies to boost your brand online.
Not only this, if you are not present at all on the web, how do you keep up to date with your market trends and competitors, or even how do your customers find you?
E-commerce was the fastest-growing retail market in Malaysia (and Southeast Asia) in 2017!
These figures show how important it is to make sure your retail store online is not only up-to-date but also designed, marketed, and responsive to all digital devices to achieve the highest number of hits.
The growth rate of business website creation is hitting double digits in Malaysia.
This will give you a hint of how competitive you could be right now within the market.
1. A website helps your business gain instant credibility
A website is the best way to collate all of your work and effectively use it as a CV or portfolio of your offerings, where you can display any testimonials or figures to promote your business.
Customers look for products or brands they trust, and sometimes money doesn’t come into this, so if you are trying to create more sales and a better ranking on Google.
Then, you will need to be consistent with your service or product offering and achieve positive word-of-mouth about your company.
READ MORE: Market Development Strategy: How Digitalisation helps?
2. Your website enables you to keep your customers informed
Not only can you use your website to introduce your company and brands, but you can also use the tool to promote other online pages such as Facebook and Twitter or even your blog.
You can advertise your monthly newsletters and encourage customers to sign up to inform them of your latest deals, ‘Online Only’, or even promote unique discount codes.
The key to this is to make sure you keep your website up-to-date with all branding regulations and business locations.
Make sure you also check that your Google account is up-to-date. Otherwise, this can really confuse people searching for the correct company.
3. A website increases your brand awareness 24/7
Your website and social media pages are accessible 24/7, 365 days a year, possibly reaching thousands of people a month.
This links back to making sure you manage your website properly and not just leaving it sitting there and thinking you have checked the box.
It’s important to make sure you have briefed designers to use all your keywords when your site is in development and then consistently use these when posting on social media or writing your blog.
4. It generates you money, so it’s worth the investment
A lot of businesses make the mistake of not putting any marketing budgets aside; they feel it’s not something that’s important for now, and they can just do a bit here and there.
But actually, one of the largest expenses a business incurs is the design and development of any online or offline marketing.
Investing most of your budget on a website is a lot more cost-effective, as you can showcase pictures, videos, links, and information to your audience without having to worry about trying to fit it onto an A5 flyer.
When you receive a website quote, it can always seem daunting. Nevertheless, if you split the price over the life of the website, including how much you are going to use it, how much money it will produce, and how it will be the main face of your brand online, then it is actually a quality investment.
A lot of people also think that agencies add hidden costs, but those hidden costs are normally licencing fees and certificates, which any website needs to be sustainable online.
READ MORE: How Can SMEs Make Money Online in Malaysia During Hard Times?
5. Improves customer service
As mentioned earlier, one of the main benefits of producing a website is that it saves on labour costs.
Offering quick-response customer service on your website with any regularly asked questions is a great way to avoid paying labour costs and phone bills.
Not forgetting to offer any other queries to be directed to your business email to make sure the customer is super happy.
All a customer really wants is to look and browse for what they want within 30 seconds; otherwise, they get bored and go to one of your competitors, so make sure all of your pages produced to promote your website are clear and straight to the point.
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