"In 2004 33.8 per cent of businesses had a website,
compared with 30.7 per cent of businesses in 2003."

Office for National Statistics

 The growth of web sites - Internet use and access is developing exponentially, the creation of web sites is obviously fundamental to this growth. The phenomenal growth of the web site can be attributed to many factors:

 Increased interactivity.
 Effective advertising.
 Promoting a company in ways which would have been impossible in the past.
 Enhancing customer experience and value.
 Speed and response rate between customers and businesses.
 Personalisation of services.
 Increased customer value
 Accessibility

Combined these factors have been the driving force behind the growth of the web site as a business and knowledge tool. However the key aspect of a website is it can be accessed anywhere, at any time, and is open every minute of the day, everyday of the year.

 Increased advertising exposure - as technology is developing so are the abilities of the services it offers, for example the internet can now be accessed on mobile phones, PDA’s and TV’s. If you have a website you are increasing your exposure to all of these mediums, and the advertising and communication possibilities they create. For example compare the cost of building a three page or ten page web site with us to advertising your company in a newspaper, then compare the duration of time each will last for. In addition to this compare the size of a tiny newspaper advertisement to that of a web site.

 E-commerce - the ability to buy and sell products over the net is one of the fastest growing commodities in the world today. You only have to look around at some of the multi billion dollar companies that were not even formed ten years ago to see the amazing potential e-business and e-commerce offer. Image web dezign can offer your company safe and effective e-commerce solutions, to help grow and expand your business.

 Illusion of size - these days a company can compete with much larger rivals very effectively by creating a strong web presence. Physical boundaries do not exist on the web which is advantageous to small businesses as they can create a company web site on a par or even surpassing those of their much larger rivals.

 Speed of advertising - having a web site alters the speed at which you can advertise your products or services. No longer is there a delay in rolling out information, now all you have to do is update your site, immediately bringing this new information into focus for your customers to view.

 Recruitment - advertising job vacancies on your web site is an excellent way to recruit new members of staff. Not only can potential recruits read about your company and inform themselves before hand but you can also see how many hits you have had per vacancy. You can also update your vacancies on a daily basis, it’s an extremely efficient, and cost effective solution.

 Information - web sites are an excellent way to supply information to customers and to help advertise and sell products and services. Compare the amount of information you can get in a leaflet, advert or sales brochure to the amount of information you can have in a website as well as the potential for positive interaction. They are a cost effective medium complementing any business by helping to sell and promote services and products. Customers can log on to a web site to read more about a company and be fully informed on all the services/products they offer before even visiting the company. Web sites offer a great way to add value to a company as they are accessible 24 hours a day, every day of the year.