When you consider whether or not you need to get in the internet game by having a company website, you might want to have a look at the following stats from the IAB Canada Knowledge Centre before making up your mind:

Time:

• The Internet now stands third -- just behind TV and Radio -- in terms of total weekly time spent by all adults with all media.
• In English Canada, the Internet has experienced a remarkable growth in terms of share of time spent with media between 2001 (14%) and 2007 (23%). In this same time, French Canada’s growth in share of time has increased from 11% to 18%.
• The Internet is the number one medium in terms of percent share of weekly time spent for both 18-24 (40%) and 25-34 (33%) year-olds in English Canada. In French Canada, the Internet is also the number one medium in terms of time spent for 18-24 year-olds, and is fast approaching Radio and TV time spent levels amongst 25-34 year olds.

Reach:

• The Internet now reaches more adults each week than either Magazines or Newspapers.
• Among 18-24 and 25-34 year-olds, the Internet has a higher reach than Radio.
• The Internet is neck-and-neck with TV for weekly reach among18-24 year-olds.

Helping The Same Marketing Budget Work Harder:

• The Internet provides marketers with a “mirror image” of the age profile other major media.
• This is particularly true when comparing the Internet to TV. Therefore, shifting a portion of the advertising budget from TV to Internet will help balance media weight across all age groups.

And while 18-24 year-olds may not be the target market for a whole host of Advertisers today, IAB Canada’s CMUST study also demonstrates that Canadians carry their media habits with them as they age. Because the high levels of Internet usage exhibited by 18-24 and 25-34 year olds today will become high levels of usage for the 35-54 year-old age group eight years from now, Advertisers whose target market is in that range, have only a short time to learn how to use Online media channels such as Video and Social Media to drive results for their brands.

And this is just from one study – there are so many more out there and they are all saying the same thing – If you don’t have a website for your company, you NEED to get in the game if you are looking to capture new clients.
The new saying is this: go where your customers are – and they are ONLINE!

Still don’t believe me? Consider the following facts from Stats Canada:

Reasons for adult home users to go on-line during 2005
	%
E-mail	91
General browsing	84
Weather or road conditions	67
Travel information or making travel arrangements	63
View news or sports	62
Search for medical or health related information	58
Electronic banking	58
Window shopping	57
Pay bills	55
Search for information about governments	52
Ordering personal goods or services	43
Education, training or school work	43
Research community events	42
Play games	39
Chat or to use a messenger	38
Obtain or save music (free or paid downloads)	37
Obtain or save software (free or paid downloads)	32
Research investments	26
Listen to the radio over the Internet	26
Communicate with governments	23
Download or watch TV or a movie over the Internet	12
Any other personal non-business reason	11

This study was in 2005 – the numbers have definitely increased since then!
So now that you know you really do need a website, the next big question is this:

Are you getting your Internet game on or merely existing?
So, now you've got a website. You think it is pretty cool, all the information about your company is there and you may even be trying to sell stuff. You've fine tuned your copy, checked links and yet your visitors don't seem to do what you want them to do.

It's time to take a step back and think about why you built a website in the first place.

"We had to have a website - everybody does!"
“I was told that a website will automatically bring customers”
“If I build it, they will come”

This is the thought process for many businesses.
With that mentality, you will inevitably end up with upper management complaining that the site isn't getting enough results to justify the expenses. The CEO wants to know why the site isn’t getting the traffic they thought they would. Suddenly, everyone's scrambling around to "fix" it. Sound familiar?

The problem is that many sites are built without a clear goal in mind.

It sounds silly, but it's true. It's time to look at the big picture and really assess what you are trying to do.
What's the goal of your website?

• To inform & educate?
• To gain valuable market research?
• To reduce support and customer service costs?
• To reach a broad audience with a message?
• To find sales leads?
• To conduct e-commerce?
• To gain advertising revenue?
• To brand your company?
• To build trust?
• To reduce printing and mailing costs?

And how do you know you are meeting those goals? Remember, the web is not just a marketing tool - it's a business tool as well. Although there is nothing wrong with having a ‘brochure-ware site’, one that simply informs, why settle for just that when your site can do so much more? Even the smallest local business can utilize the power of the Internet to be more efficient and to build revenue. So once you decide to get in the game, figure out how you can get your game going - you’ll love the results!