{"id":827800,"date":"2017-10-05T12:16:04","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T19:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/customerthink.com\/?p=827800"},"modified":"2017-10-05T12:16:04","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T19:16:04","slug":"is-your-online-game-still-in-the-mud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/is-your-online-game-still-in-the-mud\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Online Game Still in the Mud?"},"content":{"rendered":"
It’s hard to imagine but, in today’s digital age, a little more than half of small to medium-sized business still have yet to get a website. I wouldn’t have believed the numbers either until I read the stats on a CNBC.com<\/a>. Small businesses especially rely on the old-fashioned way of gaining customers: word of mouth.<\/p>\n Antara Dutta, a digital marketing expert who has founded two small businesses told cnbc.com, “People are just afraid of technology and don’t realize how simple or easy it could be.” Dutta runs a consulting company that works with banks like Barclays and owns a health-and-wellness startup.<\/p>\n Dutta pointed out that small business owners don’t need to be fresh out of college or an entrepreneur to get something from having a website. Much of it, she explains, has to do with what she calls “legacy business and generational issues.”<\/p>\n Whether these business owners think that having a nice website design<\/a> will cost them a lot or if they simply think word of mouth will suffice until they hand their business off to someone else, it is not the best business strategy in today’s market.<\/p>\n Below I have list some very important reasons having a website should be your number one priority right now. And if you have a website but it hasn\u2019t been updated in awhile, why you should also move that up on your todo list. <\/p>\n Speaking from experience, the first thing I do when before I leave my house to look for something I want to buy, I go to Google and look for a business<\/a> near me who offers the product I am looking to purchase. The second action is I take is look at their star rating and maybe have a look at the reviews. I automatically avoid businesses with less than four stars. The third thing I do is look for a link to their website. If they don’t have one, I move onto the next business listed in the search results.<\/p>\n The era of Yellow Pages is all but dead. People go straight to their mobile device when looking up businesses or seeking out a product. If your business doesn’t have a website, this makes your business seem out of date and behind. Furthermore, the likelihood your business even showing up in the search results is slim to none anyway.<\/p>\n When I find a business with a website that is pleasant to look at (meaning it isn’t bland and lifeless or full of blinking ads that end up giving me a seizure) and easy to navigate (meaning it isn’t like roaming through a maze trying to find what I am looking for) I feel more confident in their brand.<\/p>\n True story: some time ago, I was planning a trip to another country. It has been quite some time that I stopped smoking cigarettes and replaced it with vaping. One of my concerns was could I find a vape shop in the city where I would be staying. What was my first action? I Googled it. Sure enough, there were a few vape shops in close proximity to my hotel. Only one of them had a website. Since they had a website, I was able to see what products they had available. Guess which vape shop I went to when I arrived at that city?<\/p>\n
\nImage credit: MaxPixel (freely distributed with a Creative Commons Zero – CC0.)<\/em><\/p>\nHaving a Sharp Website Gives a Good First Impression<\/h2>\n
Your Website Is Always Open and in Reach<\/h2>\n