Top 10 Functions of a Website

What good is a website? What should a website be doing for your business? Here are the top ten functions of a simple website. This list does not expect you to be doing ecommerce, though if you are, these top 10 functions still apply. But even a simple website is valuable to your business, and especially if your website is doing the following for you, it is a good investment for your company.

Your website should:

Tell your story. Your business has a unique story that needs to be told, and your website is a great place to tell it. What you do, how long you've been doing it, why you are good at what you do, how you started doing it, and more about you and your business. Prospects want to know all they can about who they are considering doing business with. When making a buying decision, they like to know something about the business and the people they will be talking to as well as the products they will be using. Tell them your story through your website.

Answer questions for you. A website can answer frequently asked questions of your potential customers. Everyone hates to answer the same simple questions over and over. This becomes an annoyance after a while for you and your employees and keeps you from the really important stuff of your business. Answering these simple questions with your website saves both you and your customers time. "What times are you open?" "How long have you been in business?" "What are your credentials?" "What forms of payment do you accept?" All these questions can be easily answered on your website.

Add to your list. Your business is all about your contacts. Grow your contact list with your website. A website can take names and addresses 24 hours a day. Provide an incentive for your website visitors to leave their email or address(or both) and provide a list for your sales people and marketers to work from. Start growing your customer base with your website.