The Internet has revolutionized the way the world communicates and searches for information and services. This change is evident in various aspects of our daily lives. The Internet is increasingly being used, among other things, to book tickets for travel, run a job search, to chat, e-mail, trade and bank online.
Irrespective of its size or type, having a website has become a prerequisite for any successful business. Being the world’s third largest internet population, India will be second to China in terms of people using Internet, as more than 330 million Indians are expected to be connected online by 2015. Your business can ill afford to ignore this medium to create awareness, make business connections and to find customers for its products and services. Additionally, a website opens your doors for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and therefore increases the number of opportunities to engage your customers even when your business is closed or no one is available to answer your phone.
While having a business website is clearly a business imperative, it is just not enough to have a web presence, your website should provide your business a competitive edge and should work to meet your objectives of achieving greater visibility and find-ability of your business online, enhance credibility and lend a professional image to your business. Prior to building a website, it is therefore critical to register a .com domain name for your business, which has become the standard for doing business online. A .com domain conveys your unique identity and builds brand recognition.
Just like putting your business in the proper location in the physical world, might be the single most important thing you do to bring in customers through the door, similarly, selecting and registering a .com domain name might be the single most important thing you can do for your business location in the virtual world. Here’s why a .com website is a must have for your business –
- Improved Visibility – A .com website can give your business the right advantage in a populated online landscape. It helps business websites rise to the top of search engines. 90% of top brands today use .com today.
- Competitive Advantage – A .com website gives your business a competitive edge and helps business websites rise to the top of search engines.
- Enhances Reputation–Most, if not all of the biggest corporations around the world use and promote their websites with a .com domain extension. 97% of the top 100 brands have a registered domain in the .com TLD
- Creates a Positive Perception – A website with a .com domain name extension suggests that you are serious about doing business and lends credibility.
- Establishes Longevity – .com is one of the oldest extensions and your business website with a .com domain name extension suggests a well-established presence on the Internet.
A .com website can help even the playing field between large and small companies. It allows smaller businesses an opportunity to compete with their bigger rivals. By building a .com website that makes for an effective online presence, a small business can play to its strengths. Your website is an important part of your business and by having a .com website you have to treat it as such.
This post has been written by Nitin Wali, Head, Business Development, Asia Pacific, Verisign Services India Pvt. Ltd. It is a part of the FICCI Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (CMSME) Newsletter for June 2014. The complete news letter can be accessed on our Slideshare. Author views are personal.
