Daniel Vaczi
Is a top notch, value based website worth the investment of time and money? Can I be successful without one?
If you are in business long enough, these questions will come up. Great leaders make decisions based on facts, so I have put together some useful information that will help you make informed decisions concerning your company's online presence.
Let's look at the facts:
1. 33% of US consumers spend greater than 3 hours a day surfing the web. Many of the activities people have traditionally performed offline (information gathering, shopping, etc.) are increasingly performed online.
For example the US audience for internet based news grew 17.1% between 2009 and 2010. Every other major news platform declined during the same time period. This trend carries across almost every industry.
2. 85% of Americans earning $90k+ annually use Google at least once a week. I would bet that some of these people are your target audience, looking for the products/services you offer.
Having a website that is full of value based content, designed to maximize the user experience, and geared toward relationship building is essential to capturing this opportunity. Is your current website up to par?
3. 78% of people do their product research online. These people are in the information gathering stage of the sales process. They are reading reviews, comparing quality and price.
In many cases, your website is your potential customers’ first impression of your brand. Does your website appropriately convey the value of your offering?
4. 61% of people use the internet to participate in social media. Having your brand engage in social media is a powerful way to build credibility with your target audience by staying consistently involved in their daily lives.
Integrating a blog on your website gives your brand an editorial platform to create a unique brand position based in "value-first" communications. You can then share your value based blog posts in your social media communities to build brand awareness, and increase the reach of your value based messages. When your brand speaks now, does anyone listen?
The internet provides a no-pressure environment for your target market to interact with your brand, absorb your message, and gauge your value, probably before you even know they are looking. This is your opportunity to get found and create the right first impression.
These statistics are from a 2010 report from the Pew Research Center. The facts are clear. Weather we like it or not the internet has fundamentally changed the way people discover, share, shop and socialize.
So, is a top notch, value based website worth the investment? You're the decision maker. You decide.