When you go out networking and meet a new prospect, how can they get more information about you? Calling to follow up—along with leaving voice mails and playing phone tag—is certainly more work for many new contacts than just jumping online. Visiting your website may help a new prospect to learn more about you, easily, on their terms. And that may help you convert more leads to sales.

Today, more and more consumers use the internet to search for the products or services they need. Your small business will gain credibility by having a website. Without one, potential customers will go to your competitors that do. If you already have a website but it is “home-made”, having it professionally redesigned will provide your business with a professional image which will inspire even greater confidence. For home-based businesses, this is particularly beneficial since you do not have a store front to promote your products or services.

Whether you provide products or services, your website will provide an alternative location to sell them. As a retailer, a website (eCommerce) is a great place to sell your products to a wider market; even services can be made available globally. Don’t think you’ll be able to sell your products or services online? Don’t forget, even cars and houses sell online!

Providing information to your customers takes time, whether it’s on the phone, face-to-face, in a brochure, or in emails. With an online catalogue you can provide lots of information about your products and services. Once your website is up and running, it is available to your customers indefinitely, saving you time. And what is time? Time is money!

A website is a powerful sales tool and one that allows you to address your customers’ concerns, give them the information they need to make a decision and create compelling calls to action. Sure, you can keep placing ads in the Yellow Pages and hope that word-of-mouth generates on its own…or you can build something that inspires it to happen. Your website is your home turf where people can go to seek out trusted information about your company and engage with you on a more personal level. Use it to build confidence in your brand and to give customers important buying information (and incentives).

A website can help your business make a full and positive first impression. Instead of prospects who are disappointed that it’s difficult to find out more about your business, you’ll have happy potential customers who can easily get their questions answered. And if they get those answers from an attractive, well-written, easy-to-use website, they are more likely to form a good opinion of your company. That good opinion can go a long way toward making a new prospect feel comfortable about your expertise and credibility and want to hire you.

Creating a website can extend your marketing reach beyond your city—and sometimes outside of your own country. If you have a product or service that you can deliver over the phone, online, or even by mail, you can open up new territories that you’d otherwise have to reach by direct mail. Just think of all the new clients who could become available to you.

And through search engine optimization, your website can be there when your prospect is actually looking for the product or service you offer. It’s easier to make a sale to a prospect that wants or needs what you offer rather than trying to convince them that they need what you have.