Can you name one big and successful company without a website?

Websites are considered to be today's Yellow Pages. Businesses used to pay a lot of money to be in those Yellow Pages, as it was how everyone found businesses to buy products or services from. Websites are now used to accomplish this. Google is essentially a giant phone book where people constantly search for local businesses.

Build awareness

81% of customers research things online before they buy them. Without an online presence, you're missing out on a whole demographic of potential customers who will instead make use of the other, more visible brands.

A healthy web presence brings potential customers and partners to your business who would not have known about it otherwise. More eyes means more sales.

Build trust

Most customers won't do business with a company that doesn't have a good website. Not having a website shows that the business is not established, or that the owner does not care enough to invest in his or her own success. This doesn't automatically mean that you need a giant corporate website, as having a simple website that describes your business and where it is located is good enough to build that initial sense of trustworthiness.

To keep it simple, consider a website a digital business card. A place where you can always refer someone to, a verification to many that you are "legitimate".

Passively gain customers

There are always people looking for services and products you provide. Especially, most common, is that customers look for services that are near them, in their city, or their country.

When people find your business, they may also stumble upon the other services you offer. When they consider your brand to be trustworthy they are likely to

Showcase your brand

Just like people like window shopping, or browsing webstores for products, people like to imagine themselves obtaining products that will benefit them. By playing into their imagination, you get people to imagine making use of your products and services.