93% Of Business Purchase Decisions Start With A Search Engine Search of Websites
In order to gain new customers you need to understand where your prospects go when they are looking to find suppliers, research suppliers and make a purchase. In today's world the place where most people in most markets go is to the internet, specifically a search engine like Google, Yahoo, or Bing. These search engines are the big three (in that order) and account for over 90% of all searches. Google is by far the biggest with about 6 of every 10 searches. To learn more about the market share each search engine has go to ComScore.
Importance of Website: With 93% of business decisions starting with a search engine search that means if you don't have a website, you are only selling to 7% of your market. That is right, you are reducing the potential size of your business by 93%. I would suggest that the same statistic for consumer purchases is lower but still very high, especially for larger ticket items. The larger the item, the more research and shopping people will do. My guess is probably 40-50% of consumer purchases start with an online search. Have a website that will be search engine optimized and designed to drive sales.
It Shows Your Professionalism
Another reason why a website is important for your business is that there is a large portion of the market that won't even consider you as an option when they are looking to buy, if you don't have one. I know personally if I am dealing with a supplier I am looking to purchase from and they don't even have a website I pretty much write them off as an option and my view of that company is diminished. It gives me the impression that it is a company that is very poorly managed.
With this viewpoint why would I want to purchase from a company like this? Based on my experience most people think similar to myself. There are some people that do not hold this same thought but I would guess that probably 80% of people have bad opinions of companies that don't have websites.
