4/9/2013

SIMPLE MARKETING PVT. LTD.

NEED OF WEBSITE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AUSTRALIA

Abstract

For many businesses website is the first impression you have on your customers. Any website must deliver the information which the customers are looking for and perhaps serve them a reason to come back as well. For any small business having a website gives them the online license to divulge into the global markets and consolidate opportunities which might not have been physically possible. The traditional forms of media like print, radio and television focuses on any particularly targeted geographical periphery. Promotion through such means of communication is rather cost intensive for any small business to afford. Unlike its traditional contemporaries digital strategies and website empowers these businesses with robust technology to represent them online and make their presence felt globally. It facilitates the small and medium sized businesses with ease and flexibility to promote their brand and access larger base of audience at a rather cost effective manner. For countries like Australia where small businesses form a major part of their economies having a website is viewed as indispensable for their growth and sustainability. In this whitepaper we will delve into the small business demography in Australia and how having a website could actually benefit them.

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Contents

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1. Introduction .. 2. Website for Small Business in Australia. 3. Need for Digital Engagement for Small Businesses in Australia.. 4. Services offered by Web Design Companies 5. Benefits of Having Website and Digital Presence for Small Businesses .. 6. Conclusion.

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1. Introduction
The power, dominance and the need of website in the present century has attributed to the growing need for website technology to be narrowed down into a standard form appreciable by a population of people who relies on information. Therefore, unless the websites meet the requirement of the targeted users it will not be successful in satisfying the cause for which it is developed. With the evolution of internet and technology, websites currently play a very important role to achieve real and measurable results. Websites are very essential and in recent years they evolved as an indispensable tool to help the companies gain exposure for their brands, products and services. A well planned and developed website helps to achieve the following goals: Brand Exposure Get in touch with potential customers Selling online (eCommerce)

Australia as an economy is dominated by small and medium scale industries and companies. These businesses compete amongst each other as well as with the corporate giants to ensure sustainability for themselves in the market. Having a well developed website to represent your company online and the existence of an efficient and comprehensive digital technology for your business can help you to access a plethora of opportunities in the very competitive market.

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2. Website for Small Business in Australia

If we look at the demography of the international market today then the small businesses are most vulnerable from the tide and ebb of the market forces. The competition they face is more volatile. However, having an appropriately developed website will give them the opportunity to promote their business in physical location, improve customer service and update information easily. It adds credibility to the business and helps them keep up with the latest technology. Having a website ensures access to more cost effective and versatile approach of business promotion. In countries like Australia small businesses play an important role in the economy. They form the majority as the suppliers of goods and services as well as consumers and competitors. Over the years there has been a considerable increase in the number of small businesses in Australia. Many of these businesses who are highly engaged with the web are more likely to be growing and earn at least two times more revenue per employee than those with low engagements. Yet, inspite of all such advantages assured by the technological empowerment more than 35% of small businesses in Australia use virtually no internet at all.

Fig: 1 - Digital Engagement Level in Australia

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3. Need for Digital Engagement for Small Businesses in Australia

Not having an effective digital strategy affects the ability of a small business to grow and compete with its contemporaries. A survey conducted in Australia in 2012 revealed that almost 60% of the small businesses were expecting to grow in 2013 (CPA Australia, 2012). These were the companies who were actively pursuing a digital strategy, such as Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing and more, while those who did not have adequate online presence were less likely to grow at a similar rate. Therefore the research conducted and the findings from the same made it very apparent that digital engagement is directly associated with the growth of any company. With increasing number of companies taking online leap it is very important for any small business to brew their online presence. Having a dynamic and functional website in the very competitive economic demography of Australia it is essential for each and every small business in Australia. An attractive web design offers a creative license to make the small businesses look like fully optimized MNC. Digital strategy brings about a two way effect in operation. Businesses that are growing are likely to have time and money to their online endeavors. At the same time, they could enjoy the benefits that come from diversification of income by offering more effective ways of connecting and transacting with customers. In simple words having an appropriate digital strategy will ensure steady growth in the business of small companies. Businesses that adopt sophisticated online digital marketing strategies are likely to gross increased revenue for themselves and enjoy greater growth prospects, more diverse growth and have a larger customer base.

Fig: 2 Business Growth Expectations

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4. Services offered by Web Design Companies

It is high time the companies in Australia should acclimatize the benefits of web design companies and adhere to the services of an efficient web design company. Any corporate and business must have a website to accomplish their business targets. The services of web design companies in Australia must be regarded as indispensable by the companies there. As already discussed in the earlier section having a website empowers small businesses in enumerable ways. Not only do they gain access to global niche markets but at the same time they are able to convert more number of visitors into customers. Cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra are well known across Australia for providing web designing services. Among the other popular and economically well developed of cities in Australia are Perth and Brisbane, etc. The web designing companies across these places provide the most competent, dominant and all comprehensive website design and digital solutions. Most of these companies offer the following services for small businesses across Australia: a. Website Design and Development: These companies design websites for small business companies. They also give a complete new look to the already existing websites. Most of the web design companies Melbourne or in Sydney offers services to go beyond the basic HTML and design an interactive website. b. ECommerce Solution: Ecommerce services offered by the website design companies can prove to be very essential for any business. The strategies they create and implement digitally empower the small businesses in Australia to enter niche market and generate more revenue. c. Web Application Development: Web applications empower small businesses to expand their reach and be readily available to increasing number of internet users. Features such as the chat and video conferencing can allow the businesses to attract more number of audiences. d. Mobile Application Development: Empowering your target audience with the liberty to access information on the go can be really very beneficial to your business as well. The application allows business to reach the targeted audience through their mobile phones even when they are not in front of their personal computers. e. Search Engine Optimization: Having only an attractive website will do no good for your business until and unless you create adequate web presence for yourself. Search Engine Optimization ensures more online visibility to your business.

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5. Benefits of Having Website and Digital Presence for Small Businesses

Website is one of the most important medium to take your business online. Having an appropriately developed website entails empowering your business with advantages of global reach. It is the simplest and the easiest technologies innovated to facilitate the businesses to transact across the globe with efficiency. The benefits achieved from having a website and digital engagement is pretty apparent from the case study of Australian demography. A recent survey found that almost 35% of the small businesses in Australia have very low or no digital engagement at all. 24% of the small businesses have low digital engagement and 25% have medium digital engagement. Only 16% of the small businesses in Australia are making most from having a website and operations with high digital engagement. Based on the statistics and the findings it is very important for such businesses to develop an efficient website and invest on a comprehensive digital strategy. Following are the benefit that a small business can enjoy from having a website: a. Cost-effective advertisement: Unlike any of the modern mediums of promotion having a website can offer you a low cost advertising solution. A website optimized to attract increasing number of audiences can mobilize more people than print or television media can avert. b. Analysis of Consumer Behavior: Internet Analytics enable the businesses to log and track the visitors who visit their website. This information is real time representations of the advertising channels that attract more visitors, how often does the visitors view the pages and keep a track of at what point does the visitor is actually converted into a buyer. c. Availability 24*7: Operating websites enable businesses to be available to their customer 24 hours of the day. This was they not only empowers their customer to access information during any time of the day. But this also entails increased visibility to customers and enjoying the benefits obtained from customer visits for 24 hours of the day. With this the customer can
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browse information, get answers on their queries or place an order at a time and location that they prefer. d. Customer feedback: Websites provide the most unique opportunity for business to get customer feedbacks. They allow customers to interact with the company and provide feedback on their experience. Savvy retailers often display customer feedback on their websites. e. Niche Markets: One of the greatest advantages of having a website is that it has a low cost of running and it allows the small and medium sized businesses to cater to the niche markets. Thus, the small and medium sized businesses can enjoy the benefit of high margin opportunities through their online presence. f. Growth Opportunity: Website empowers the small and medium sized companies to explore global opportunities. The websites are one of the most cost effective ways of business promotion as well as communicates the business message over a vast expanse. This way they ensure valuable and real time growth opportunities for any business.

6. Conclusion
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The businesses with higher level of business engagement have their goals focused on attracting new customers and exploring niche markets. Empowering your business globally enriches your company with the benefits of robust technology to make your presence felt in the market. For small businesses having a website certainly gives them the much needed impetus to gain access to larger base of audience in the most cost effective methods. A well developed website gives an opportunity to the small businesses to represent their brand online in sync with that of large MNCs. Therefore they create a brand value for businesses. In countries like Australia where small and medium scale businesses dominate the majority of their economy, having a website must be viewed as one of the most important inclusions for their businesses.

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