The costs associated with operating a business are continuing to skyrocket, which makes it difficult for business owners and managers to decide on how business revenue should be spent. Is building an online presence an expense that companies should justify or is it an expense to be put off for another day? Let’s break this issue down further.

What Geographic Region Does Your Business Serve?

Does your business offer products or services confined to a small area of town or can everyone from around the world benefit from the products or services offered? If your business thrives on local sales where a person has to come into your store location, then you may not benefit from selling the products online unless you are looking to branch out.

Even so, an online presence can still allow people who use the Internet find your business. For example, if you own a small coffee shop and you have a small website or you’re active on social media, it can help those unfamiliar with the area find your business.

Are You Looking to Branch Out?

If you only offer services or products to local customers right now, what about in the future? One of the many reasons why companies decide to take their businesses online is because their products or services are popular with local patrons and they want to share their company nationally or internationally.

Before deciding to take your business to a global level online, it’s important to do research first. Your products or services may be popular where you live, but will they be popular in a country across the globe? Good market research will assist you in determining if your business is ready to branch out online.

Are Customers Asking?

When people call your company or they stop in your store, are they asking if you have a website or if you’re on Facebook? If they are and you’re starting to hear the question asked frequently, there’s a decent chance that your business can benefit from having an online presence. The Internet is full of information that people actively seek out on a daily basis; if they can’t find your company online, there’s a good chance that they’ll find another company online.

Benefits of Being Online

Having a business presence online is not an expensive method of advertising, especially when using inbound marketing techniques such as blogging and social media marketing. But if you’re still unsure if your business will benefit from being online, here are a few more things to consider:

• Customers are favoring companies that are transparent with their policies and there’s no easier way to be transparent than being online.
• Having an online presence allows companies to provide another customer service option to customers.
• If you’re marketing budget is small, online marketing can be more cost effective than traditional marketing strategies depending on what type of online marketing you elect to go with.
• It may be possible to expand your business to other areas of the country or the world.
• You can use your online presence to build trust with potential customers.
• Other Internet users can read about positive experiences that others have had with your company.

That is just a short list and of course every business’s situation will be different depending on their goals and strategies. It’s ultimately up to business owners to determine how important being online is, but it certainly does have advantages that staying offline doesn’t provide.