Some of the reasons to have a web site

The Web, an Extension to your Business
Business owners tend to have a love hate relationship with the internat. They either see as their enemy or their friend. This neurotic mix may be relegated to history as profound new trends to make websites another essential business tool.
Changing consuming behaviour may make a business website a portal for inline purchasing but is mush more likely to make the website a place to research the business’ products and services.
A surge in usage of the internet by consumers is reflecting the changes in the way consumers seek out information
We now have more than 10 million Australians online. Purchasing decisions are more and more likely to be based on information gathered on the internet.
For many, online research is replacing the sore as the way they gather information on products and pricing before purchasing at he store level.
Sensis figures show that there were 1.9 million unique visitors in May to the yellow pages website, a sharp rise on the previous year.
Two compelling factors are contributing to tthis: the first is the massive increase in the numbers of new customers signing up to high-speed internet broadband services.
Large telecommunications carries such as Telstra and Optus are reporting continuing high rates of new subscriptions.
The second factor is the acceleration of domain name registrations reported by several operators in this field.
He says that the days of expensive web designers and web developers charging thousands of dollars for a web presence are numbered.
Melbourne IT, for example, is registering 50,000 new names monthly.
 These trends, in particular broadband are dramatically, influencing consumer patterns towards an ‘always on’ mode.
That is, rather than going to their computers, dialling up and searching, consumers are now always online. It’s therefore cheaper, quicker, and more comprehensive for them to seek out information from websites and search engines.
Typically, people will compare prices and features online and then book their service provider by phone. Sone by online.
A Sensis executive, Mirella Prince, group manager of Interactive Consumer Experiences, says technology has raised consumer expectations.
“You’ve seen this already in the banking and travel industries. People now have an expectation of finding what they want, quickly and easily.”
The growth in the population that is using always-on, broadband internet connections is prompting a growing number of small to medium businesses to view websites as serving a similar function as the yellow pages advertising. Hence the boost in domain name registrations.
In effect, a website is rapidly becoming the easiest and most affordable way to communicate information.
Paul Lameson, managing director of website developer Ozetrades, says it is a misconception that the web sites are expensive or complex.
“Is listing in the yellow pages complexe?”
“Building web sites is moving from the designers to the packaged product.
 Every industry — mobile phones, banking, you name it — goes through this evolutionary stage.”
A website is now becoming a money-saving investment rather than a hope-driven, expensive marketing strategy.
In the case of professionals or tradespeople limited by geography reach, the business case is nevertheless compelling.
Having a Boucher-style web presence reduces time in handling suspect phone calls, marketing expenses, postage, faxes, phone bills, and office supplies.
Getting a website is not without some risks. Computers and web sites break down and it often happens at the most inopportune times.
Care should be taken when putting information about your business and products on the internet as you might be giving away your competitive advantage or crucial parts of your intellectual property.
The early businesses that establish websites were likely to be computer-literate and tech-savvy.
They also were likely to be very interested in selling on the net, and they often included an e-commerce capacity when they initially set up their sites.
Today, in contrast, the SMEs that  are fuelling the new wave of websites and domain registrations are much more likely to be focused on establishing an online presence that can deliver ‘brochure ware’ whose mission is to provide information.

Reference: Morris Kaplan. The Daily Telegraph 27-Sep-2005