According to the latest numbers, there are more than 162 million websites on the internet today. This is a huge growth from the first ever website created in 1990 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. The name of the first website on the internet was info.cern.ch. Since then million of websites have been created which have revolutionalized the way business do business on and offline.

Companies such as Amazon who realized the huge potential of e-commerce are making sales in excess of $1 billion annually on the internet. According to the National Retail Federation’s published report for 2008, online retail sales were predicted to rise by up to 17% over 2007 to reach $200 billion.

The above scenario is enough evidence why a business needs to have a presence on the internet. Through E-commerce the world is now one global market place. This therefore, means every business needs to have its presence on the global market place by having their permanent address on the World Wide Web portal. In this era of technological advancement a business without a website stands to lose a large number of its potential customers. Millions of people worldwide prefer to use the internet to look out for their desired products and services. Millions of businesses have registered their presence on the internet in order to tap into billions of consumers across the world.

Through strategic marketing efforts, you can generate money from the World Wide Web. The good news is that you do not have to be a computer wizard to manage a business website. You can outsource the technical aspect of maintaining your website to a webmaster.

What you need to do

Create a professional business website that can provide valuable information about your business. The information you share on your website should cover all aspects of your business in terms of products/services, show photos wherever possible as visuals have a lasting impression.  All contact detail (Email, physical address, phone number, fax and instant messenger details) should be available on your website. Instead of emphasizing that your business is the best, you need to focus more on highlighting the unique benefits of your products/services. Your site reveals a lot about your integrity and reputation.

Once you decide to create a website, you need to consider SEO or search engine optimization and your target market. With a highly optimized website that contains valuable information, you are sure to generate traffic and eventually, higher sales.

Now can you tell me why a business should have a website? Well, I guess the answer is now obvious – to attract more customers that will lead to higher sales and income. It is a given that every business owner wants to make a good profit margin from his/her sales. If you want to survive the tough competition and the hard economy, try to use the best marketing strategies available online and offline. You can create your own business website or you can hire a professional website designer to do it for you.

I hope this article will motivate you to consider joining millions of businesses who are using  the power of the internet to increase sales and reaching out to the global market place.

To your Success!!