Keyword ebay, Work at home, Small business, Marketing

It is sometimes hard to quantify the ROI of a website for a B2B company. After all, if your organization specializes in tailored insurance claim settlements, the chances that you are going to attract major new business through the Internet is rather slim. CEO's do not normally find new vendors by making a Google search. But his employees may.

There are therefore more than a few compelling reasons for a B2B company to invest in a company website. Let's look at some of them:

1. Lead generation – even though we have agreed that most companies do not make vendor selections based on Google searches, you cannot rule out the possibility that an employee of the company might make some initial searches in the search engines to research information and find potential vendors.

2. Trust building – this is probably the biggest reason for a B2B company to have a website. It is the norm, rather than the exception these days for a company to have a website. If you do not have a website, your potential clients might think that you are a fly-by-night operation. If your website is not well designed, they might think that you are in financial trouble since you don't seem to have enough funds to spend on a website. If you add lots of information about your products, services and especially, your success stories, you will impress your potential clients with your know-how and acumen. These reasons sound simplistic, but taken together your website sends out a powerful message of who you are and what you can deliver.

3. You can use your website to interact with your potential clients. Use your website's interactive capabilities to do market research. Run polls and surveys, ask for opinions or take customer satisfaction ratings. You can use this feedback to improve your services.

4. A website is a very cost effective means of advertising. It is targeted towards your customer, it can convey more information than a company brochure and the information can be updated regularly. How much money is spent every year on printing the company brochure, financial statement or catalog? All of this can be published on your website for a fraction of the cost – and updated regularly instead of once a year or once a quarter.

5. Your website contributes to brand building. If you have the funds, banner advertising can be seen as the equivalent to highway billboards – something to catch the eye and make an impression with regards to your corporate image. Your website should fit in with your corporate branding and reinforce the corporate image – but not to the detriment of usability and functionality, it must be added. That is why a professional web design company is essential for designing your website, and preferably not your advertising company. Advertising companies will invariably sacrifice usability and ease of use for branding!

6. Your corporate website can contribute to efficiency improvements. B2B companies invariably have customer-supplier relationships and accounts that must be maintained. Some of these account management functions can be automated through a website. Stock levels, orders, claims – all of these can be automated to an extent through making use of web technology.

7. Improved communication – corporate communication with potential and existing clients can be maintained through a B2B website via mailing lists and newsletters. Keep in touch with clients, re-sell and upsell, notify them of new product releases, of special offers. All of these can contribute to building relationships and gaining new customers.

Yes, having a corporate website might not be as glamorous as having a hard-hitting sales letter type site, or an online shop where customer conversions can be measured through direct sales, but can your company really afford to be without one?