Your Website Really Needs a Physical Address
I see it happening all the time... websites with no physical
mailing address. It's as if they don't exist anywhere but in the
scary world of cyberspace. I say scary because that's exactly
what a high percentage of the web browsing population thinks of
the Internet. When these people are looking to purchase a
product and don't see a physical address, they get scared, and
very likely abandon the purchase. And don't think that a typical
email address for your contact information cuts it. People want
a physical location.
So, what do you do? Simple. Use a physical mailing address as a
contact option in your 'Contact Us' page and/or website order
form. However, if you're a website owner that operates from your
home, don't go and attach your home address to your website just
yet, you might want to think about your mailing options.
Deciding where to have your business mail sent is not as
straightforward as you might think. There are a few factors that
you have to take into consideration - quantity of mail received,
length of time at location, convenience, and of course, cost.
The good news is that you have several options that are
available to you:
1. Your Home Address
2. Mailing Services (Mailboxes Etc., The UPS Store, etc.)
3. Mail Forwarding
4. Post Office Box (P.O. Box)
Using your home address
Using your home address is definitely the cheapest option. To
the small to medium size website owners, it is probably the best
option. However, if you tend to grow rapidly, or if your website
already has a large user-base, then your home address may not be
the best option for you.
If you are selling products from your website and allowing
customers the option to mail in their order (which is good
practice - and many do), then you could potentially get a lot of
mail, depending on the user-base of your website, of course. If
this is the case, then your home mailman will not be happy with
you at this stage! And you may also find yourself spending a
half hour out of each day prying your mail out of your tiny home
mailbox that is not big enough to accommodate all that mail.
Furthermore, if you ever move you will need to forward your mail
to your new location, which never seems to be as smooth as you'd
like it to be.
Then there's the fact the all of your customers can easily find
out where you live. Not that you're hiding from anyone! But you
could find yourself in the situation where you have a few
inquisitive customers that don't mind "stopping by" to ask a few
questions!
Using a Mailing Services (Mailboxes Etc., The UPS Store,
etc.)
The use of a mailing service can be quite expensive ($25-$45 per
month). However, there are some benefits. You can assign a suite
number or have a real street name assigned to your business
address, instead of a P.O. box. This can give the potential
customer the impression that your business has an office or
building that resides at the location. However, I have found
that the cost of this service usually outweighs the benefits
associated with it. Nevertheless, the money you pay to use a
mailing service is tax deductible as a business expense.
Using Mail Forwarding
Now, if you REALLY want to get fancy you can opt for the mail
forwarding option. Here you can pay a company in a "big time"
city like New York or Chicago to accept your mail and forward
your mail to you. This is EXPENSIVE! And there is another major
drawback - you are always getting your mail about 2-5 days late
due to the forwarding time.
Using a Post Office Box (P.O. Box)
The use of a P.O. Box is, in my opinion, the best choice for
those that run high traffic websites out of their home. Not only
does your mail get to the P.O. Box more quickly, but also the
cost is relatively cheap (about $50-$125 per year). Again, this
cost is a business expense, so save your receipt and write it
off!
In my opinion and experience, most people are accustom to the
P.O. Box and do not mind sending orders to it. In fact, many big
companies use P.O. boxes as a matter of conveniently keeping the
mail separate.
There you have it, four good ways to make your customers feel
more secure by adding a physical address to your website. Pick
the one that suites you and your company's needs best - everyone
is different. The important thing is to give your customers a
place to send physical mail.
Good luck! And be sure to come back to visit VictoryKey often
for more online business tips and discussions!
Sincerely,
Michael Ellis