Advantages of a website?

Question

I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to create a website or brochure for my new business? What are the advantages or disadvantages of creating a website over creating brochures?

Answer 1

I think it depends a lot on what sort of business you're in and what audience you're forgetting. If you;'re targeting people who frequently access the web, then a website might be the way to go. If, on the other hand, you're targeting people that DON'T frequently use the web, a hard copy brochure has advantages.

Answer 2

It doesn't have to be either/or.  Why not both a website and brochure?

The advantages of a website:

* Unless your target is people who don't use the Internet, the lack of a website makes people think you aren't "professional".  The same thing for using e-mail addresses that aren't your own domain name.  (I don't understand people who have their own domain, and use a yahoo.com or aol.com e-mail address.)

* People can find out information about you without having to call you, and it's available 24/7. (Imagine how many less "what are your hours" or "where are you located" calls you would get during the day, assuming you have a "brick and mortar" store.)

* Larger exposure than brochures.  How many brochures can you send out, and how much does it cost?  Don't stop sending them out, but you can get broader exposure with a website as well.

* Greater detail / sales information than brochures.  The more products/services you have, the more expensive a brochure becomes if you have to include a lot of information.  With a website, you can give enough of an overview, and then say "call us or visit out website for more information".

Disadvantages:

* If your website looks cheap (or uses a "free hosting" service), it's a major turn-off.

- kb -

Answer 3

Sometimes a website makes you earn money

people get info. about u'r business on net instead of calling u.

Answer 4

Personally speaking, I like to look up any business I am thinking about going to before I actually go there - anything from dry cleaning to restaurants. I don't know what type of business you have, but I would suggest a website first, then brochures.

Answer 5

definitely go with a website first before brochure

or why not put a downloadable pdf brochure on your site

advantages: online presence 99.9% of business's need one, its up 24/7!

disadvantages: as long as the site is designed well there shouldnt be any

if your website looks cheap, your business looks cheap

Answer 6

Before I even tell you the beauty of having a website, You have to promise your  business will have a top level .com domain name, and it will not be hosted in a free hosting company, okay?

It doesn't depend on your target customer but your product :). Here's why!

Someone might be looking for your product or services in a directory. And if they see your business address and phone, they might not contact you guys right away. But if you list your website address in the directory along with your physical address, and phone, he will visit your website if you have one. From your website he can get more information about your business, get special deals and you can build a customer base.

Lot of experts here don't tell you this but you can make 90% ROI (Return on Investment) just through online. Basically when people look for stuff they tend to sign up for newsletters in your website. And after you have a pretty large list of people in your newsletter list, you  can send them your special offers via email, and at least one person will make a purchase guaranteed :).

The disadvantages would be, you might have to monitor user activities. For example if people are coming or not, how's your newsletters are doing, is your website appealing or not, and so on.

You  can also advertise your website in Google Adwords to get even more visitors. And those visitors will convert to customers eventually :).

Here's an article on how much you could invest on websites: http://www.puphost.com/besmart/cheap-web...

Here's an article on how to hire a good web designer if you are not an expert: http://www.puphost.com/besmart/site-plan...

Most website companies, now have ready-made templates and website builders. So, you necessarily won't even need a designer.