Does my business need a website?
The short answer is: absolutely. Every business needs a website.
Let me tell you a story that happens many times a week. I’m on Facebook looking at different business groups. Someone posts a message about their business. I become interested so I click on the post and it takes me to an Instagram or Facebook page. From there, I try to learn more by looking for a website and I find nothing… I shake my head, back click, and move on. A lost customer.
Given how easy it is to build a website these day, this is a big mistake. Although I don’t support growing your business on a simple builder website ( I’ll have more in another blog about that), it is a great place to start.
So why do you need a website for your business? Below are 8 reasons why every business needs a website.
1. Your website is something you own.
As mentioned previously, many business owners build their business on social media platforms. This is a fantastic place to start but it is a platform you will never own. If Instagram changes their rules tomorrow and your product or profile gets banned, there goes all your sales and hard work. On the other hand, if you had done the same thing and guided people back to a website, you wouldn’t have lost everything. Because people know where to go to get your product and service online. Your website. From there, you can choose another platform and continue growing your business.
2. Funneling in traffic from other platforms to your website.
Imagine a spider’s web, where the entire web comes back to a single point. When building a website for your business, you can funnel all social media traffic and potential customers to a single place. Your website. If you know anything about SEO, over time this work will help you rank higher and higher on google. For those who don’t know, Google has 3.5 billion searches a day, which can be converted to more customers for you. Learn more about Google search stats and influence.
3. Builds trust and credibility
I can’t tell you how many times I was looking for a restaurant or service and when searching I wasn’t able to find a website. Right away that is a red flag that this business is not big enough or organized enough to have a digital presence. So I move onto the next business. Failure to establish credibility online costs potential customers. It is as easy as that.
You will never know how many customers you are losing without a website. A friend may refer someone and they try to do a google search and find nothing. There goes an easy potential customer because your business needs a website.
4. Website allows you to track statistics
With a website and google analytics, you can understand your customers’ journey through your webpage. And with the right help and ideas, you can use the analytics to convert more customers. I was working with a business who received over 2000 customers a day on their website but no ability to shop. We rebuilt their website with e-commerce functionality and their sales were 6 figures in 2 weeks. Imagine how much they lost before that.
Below is an example of a small subnet of information you can extract from your website.
Users: Number of people coming to your website
Sessions: Is the interactions a user takes on your website over the span of time. For example, visiting 3 pages and then buying. If a user leaves and comes back or is inactive and comes back a new session is recorded.
Bounce Rate: When a user only visits one page or does one action and leaves your website. This is recorded as a bounce.
Session Duration: How long a user spends on your website on average.
5. Your brand is important and your website helps build that
Your brand consists of your logo, colors, tone of voice, what you are about and more. People visiting your website will get to understand your brand. The more they see it, the more they trust it. This makes future sales easier. Think about a website you go to continuously and how they have built credibility with you over time. For me it would be Apple — their commercials, in-store experience, and online presence — everything is unified.
6. A website is your 24/7 salesperson
You may have heard this before, but your website never sleeps. It is always telling your story. Almost like a proud parent. Always telling their friends how good you are. The best part about it is that you own this story and what you get your influencer (your website) to say. Get the rest you need and let your website do the hard work of explaining who your business is to your customers.
7. Easy place for people to learn more about you and your business
People are curious, and now more than ever, they want information. They want to search and learn more about you in 2 minutes. Otherwise, they will find someone else. Having a website will let you maximize the chance of landing those customers. Whether that information tells them more about who you are as a business or the people you work with. People appreciate knowing their values align with a potential business they are looking to purchase from.
8. Having a place for people to refer friends and family
You landed a new customer and they love the work or service you provide. They want to share it with the world. Make it easier for these people to do that by having a website their friends can search and learn more on.
These are 8 reasons why you need a website for your small or medium business. I can list plenty more, but I think you get the gist. If you need help in getting one please check out why using a marketing broker helps make it simple.
