What is the purpose of your website?

Do you know why you're creating a website? Are you trying to sell products online, provide customer support to your existing business, or make money from blogging or affiliate marketing? Here are a few reasons why people build their websites.

Make Money

Many people create a website to make money online. A website is a great communication tool to help people, and also make a profit for yourself. The demographic of online users usually have a higher education with higher income, and buying online is no longer perceived as a risk for many Internet users. There are many ways to make money online, and a few examples include e-commerce, affiliate marketing, advertisement, and membership services. The fundamentals of online business are similar to offline counterpart, and having a business plan, financial support, marketing strategies, and fulfilling a customer's needs are necessary to have a successful business.

Save Money

If you have an existing business that requires customer support, a website can reduce costs and save money. Posting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Answers, and describing products and services in greater detail will ease your customer service activities. Providing downloadable brochures and software drivers will allow your customers to self-service their needs 24x7 and 365 days. Brochures and catalogs cost money to print and distribute, and making use of the website will save money. For example, a restaurant owner may post the menu and restaurant hours, and the customers may not need to call to ask for hours of operation or ask questions about the menu being offered saving time for your employee(s). Not only that, but restaurant owners could lower their costs further if they use a service for printing brochures and catalogs, so long as they’re getting a bulk order. Users may also refer to your website on their own for additional resources if the information provided is useful and reusable, causing more people to visit your website and potentially become customers. You may also use your website to collect customer feedback or customer surveys, to enhance your business with more communication with your customers.

An ability to search for information online makes the web a powerful tool. Companies using Intranets can include company documents, standard operating procedures, payroll information, job postings, paid time off, company news, training programs, and other additional resources on the website. These services are referred to as employee services. External customers will benefit from online catalogs, user guides, product reviews, and use cases. Offering online demos of the products and suggesting improvements to your product are valuable communications you can have with your customers.

Communicating with employees, co-workers, and customers is stress-free when using the web. Trying to get in contact with someone while they are traveling to a different time zone is very difficult and frustrating. You can easily put your information online and the traveler will be able to access the information at any time. Web pages can also be translated into different languages which makes communicating that much easier. The internet has more flexibility than broadcasting or printed information. Information can be updated, omitted, or added quickly via the Internet.

Social Networking

To be successful, you need to network with individuals with knowledge, resources, and great habits. By letting your visitors read your articles, share your experiences, and display your insights; your readers will become your friends give credit for your hard work, and respect your knowledge. You never know who you will be networking with, and how many fans you'll have. There are plenty of stories that one may read and refer to, which may lead to significant opportunities. The web allows you to meet thousands of people in a small amount of time. By having a web presence with a great amount of resources, you will have a significant advantage over your competitors.

Web Marketing

Web marketing can promote your business to millions of users. Successful internet promoters select target audiences to cater to. If you try to promote to everyone on the web, not everyone will be interested. Instead, narrow your reach and focus on the target audience who need your products or services. Don't try to sell refrigerators to Eskimos, but find a target audience who are looking for refrigerators at the present time. If a targeted user is coming to you to learn more about your product/service, it increases the likelihood that they will buy from you.

Online Education

Libraries and museums have a great amount of information, but the web will have all of the information ever discovered and more. With so much data available, it is difficult to find the specific information one may need and try to comprehend by reading. Providing online education is a way to help users learn the specific topics they desire through tutorials and examples. Instead of the student and teacher physically being in a classroom together, a lecture can be presented online through a live or recorded video.

The use of multimedia in presentations helps illustrate things much more clearly and quickly. The use of videos and sounds can assist in conveying your idea to the user in much more pleasant ways. Videos can show you a step-by-step process of how something should be done, what the inside of a building looks like, or a life-like experience.