We are regularly asked the following question: ‘My business is very small, I only have a small local shop and I only sell my products locally. Do I really need a website?’ And the answer is always the same: YES!
Websites are very much needed. No matter what type of business you have, a website will help you grow it, will help you create a reliable image of you for your customers, and you will be able to reach your clients with your marketing messages easily. It doesn’t matter if your business is small, big, or somewhere between the two. The main point is that people are using the Internet more and more every day, even for finding shops online. And if they can’t find yours because you don’t have a website at all, you may have lost some income.
Perhaps the biggest misconception about business websites is that the site must include products for sale, you have to be able to accept credit cards there, must process financial transactions, and so on. This could not be farther from the truth. Although e-commerce websites are getting more and more popular, the vast majority of business websites are still serving information and communication purposes and they are not purchase-oriented. However, if your business offers products or services and you like the idea of selling them online, then of course you should absolutely consider creating an e-commerce website. Most importantly, if you do not intend to sell your products and services on the internet, similarly to most of the businesses, you will still need your own website. Fortunately, today you can get one relatively quickly and at a reasonable price.
So if you have a business, no matter its size, you need to establish your online presence. Let’s see why!
To enhance your credibility
With the vast majority of the world’s population actively using the Internet, creating a website is the best way to introduce yourself, your business, and your products and services to the general public. In fact, Internet users expect successful businesses to be present online as they usually first check goods on the internet before purchasing certain products. Thus a good website can be a great tool in your hand to provide useful information about your business and convince your prospective customers why they should choose your products or services.
You may increase the credibility of your website by following the below rules:
-Update your web pages regularly and include as much relevant and useful information as possible.
-Assess your readers’ needs and provide quick answers to their questions.
-Feel free to share comments from satisfied customers on your website.
-Encourage your Customers to leave comments and reviews on the site and respond to them in a timely manner.
At the end of the day, there is no better recommendation than a well-designed website with useful information for your customers.
Creating a website will attract new customers to your business
Most companies neglect the idea of creating a website because they are not very tech-savvy, they consider it too expensive, don’t have enough time to design the website, or because they “don’t need it as they already have enough customers.” But these are no excuses, a professional website with fewer pages is now relatively cheap and easy to build.
What’s more, having a website also means additional business opportunities, not to mention the fact that you can expand your local market to potential customers who were previously unfamiliar with the products you offer. Even local customers are looking for products or services online, and if they find your website that is professional and useful to them, they will visit your shop. However, without a website they will only find your competitors, and as a result loyal customers may remain but you will not be able to open toward new ones. In addition, your website will always be there for your customers, even when you are not available that is 24 hours a day. Your website will serve as your nonstop active business representative during as well as outside of office hours.
Bad website or no website – you may lose either way
Now it’s clear that if you don’t have a website, your customers won’t find you and you will miss out on many opportunities. However, if you have a bad website, I would recommend you not to have a website at all since a bad website will qualify your business. First impressions matter a lot and a website gives you the opportunity to make a terrific impression with a well-designed presentation of your business.
Today there are so many opportunities for business development, so be sure to invest in a professional website! If you do not want to do this alone, make sure you consult with an expert. A bad website, just like a non-existing website, is definitely a disadvantage for your business.
Your website is a key element of your marketing strategy
Whatever your next business step is, it must first appear on your website – so as a first step of your marketing strategy you need to create a website. All information that may be useful to your clients should be included there.
Your website must be mobile-friendly – this will be one of your main marketing tools as more and more users are browsing the internet using their smartphones. If your website does not belong to the responsive category, potential customers will simply bounce back and check your competitors. Therefore, it is important to make sure that you do not only create a website, you have to pay attention to its quality and optimization.
Additionally, the speed performance of your pages is critical. Not only does slow load time negatively impact the user experience, but it can also be detrimental to the SEO (search engine optimization). To make the website faster, make sure that the images and videos used on the website are as small as possible.
In addition, make sure that the content is written for your readers, your customers. The title should always be eye-catching and the content should focus on the biggest challenges your target audience is facing. Choose a tone that really appeals to your audience, and choose the topics of your blog posts according to your customers’ preferences.
You can save time
As a business owner, you need to carefully allocate your time and spend your energy on tasks that will generate revenue. Whatever your business is, your website must contain answers to most of your customers’ questions. Answering questions by phone or email can take a long time so if your site is informative enough, you can inform visitors in advance:
-You can provide general information about your business, products and services through your website.
-You can build an online catalog or webshop.
-It might be useful to create a page where you can list the most frequently asked questions and answers.
The time that you have saved can be invested in the growth and development of your business.
You may learn a lot about your customers
Your website is more than your advertising board. Using it properly can help you learn more about your customers and then you may use that information to further increase your revenue. You can conduct surveys to find out what your visitors are interested in – there will be plenty of online tools to help you set up and evaluate comprehensive surveys. In addition, you can analyze your own web site with Google Analytics to gain plenty of valuable information about user behavior. Among other things, you will be able to see which pages your visitors visit most often. The more you know about the Users, the better decisions you can make to further develop your website.
You may sell your products online
In addition to expanding the visibility of your business, a whole new channel will open up for you to use to sell. Nowadays, no one is restricted to selling their products exclusively in a particular shop – you can do it online now. Setting up an online store is relatively easy, so now your products might be purchased outside of business hours.
Your website will be listed in Google’s search engine results page
Not only can your website show up on Google when your customers are looking for the products or services you offer, but if you are persistent enough you can get better ranking in the search results list and find new customers. According to a study by GE Capital Retail Bank, 81% of people search online before buying. Therefore, we definitely advise businesses to do SEO (search engine optimization) on their website. Look through keywords, titles, blogs. This will increase your chances of ranking in Google and improve your site’s visibility to potential customers.
You should use social media platform but…
Being active on social media can generate more traffic to your website. You do not need to be present on all social media sites, rather spend some time analyzing which platform your target audience is most active on and focus on that one.
Many business owners believe that it is enough to create a Facebook page for their business and as a result no website is necessary. Unfortunately there is a small problem with this strategy. Algorithms, trends, rules can change, and what works today may not be a successful tactic few weeks later. Don’t make yourself dependent on any social media platform. If customers are on Twitter today, maybe Snapchat will be more popular tomorrow, or there will be another platform that no one has ever heard of yet. As people switch from one site to another, your website will function as an anchor, it is yours with your own content and message. No matter which social media platform visitors prefer, your site will always be found in the same place.
It is important to emphasize that social media is of great importance but not the number one priority. As a complementary tool though, it will be great!
FINAL THOUGHTS
The purpose of this post is to show you why creating a website is a great opportunity to grow your business. If you need help, please feel free to contact us. In addition to designing a website, we’re happy to help you with search engine optimization as well which helps your business rank in search engine results. Good luck with your business!
Edina S