How far can a business go without a website?
Wednesday 7/28/10 time 9:20 AM - Helena @Moogo
There are many companies that don't have a website. And it's just something that is not easy for me to understand - not because I work with Moogo, but because as a young person I look for information on the web. So if a company is not there then I simply can't find it.
Every year I get yellow pages sent to my home by post. I really haven't asked anyone to send it to me, but it still comes. Every year I have done the same thing - I get amazed of how many companies have spent their advertising money on it and then just throw the book away. Firstly, if I want to find any service, I would most definitely not use information on a paper for that. Secondly, these contact informations don't tell me anything about these companies. I was to know more than their phone number - if they have what I want, if their product is good, if anyone recommends the company etc. Even if I was just looking for a phone number, I'd rather pull out my mobile phone to check their site.
Few people with technical background complain sometimes that bloggers still talk about how much companies need websites. They think it's so irrelevant topic, because everyone should know that companies need to have one. However, the statistics keep striking me. Apparently around 40% of small businesses in USA don't have a website. This means hundreds of thousands of companies! So apparently there is a need to talk about it. The simple truth is - if you want to be found as a company by your customers, you need to be online. And although I understand that there are few companies that have created their online presence through some other channels so well that they can live with it, then it's not the case for the rest of the 99,99% of companies.
Now, just to be fair, I realize that there are businesses that are not in the interest of the wide world and therefore a website wouldn't help them that much. Hence I'm talking about a typical small businesses that really want to reach out to new customers. I really don't believe that they would get very far without creating any online presence for themselves (I believe it that much that I even created a Facebook group for that). Your website is like your home - you might use some other places to communicate with people, but your home gives a message of who you really are.
What do you think of it? Is it possible for a company to thrive in today's world without a website?
