Are you still contemplating on whether or not you should really build a website for your business? Do you believe it is just a waste of time or money? Or maybe you are ready, it’s just not on the top of your priority list? Well, it’s time to stop contemplating or placing it on the back burner because, in reality, a website is one of the most vital tools for the success of your business!
While a small business website serves many purposes, the main objectives are to inform, to engage and to convert. Consumers are more likely to visit a website to learn about your business than they are to pick up the phone and call. If your business is not online yet – you are missing out on huge marketing and sales potential!
Need more reasons before you take the plunge? Today we are sharing with you 7 reasons your business NEEDS a website!
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Builds Credibility: A 2015 study performed by Verisign reported that 84% of consumers believe that small businesses with websites are more credible than ones without an online presence. If your business doesn’t have a website, it can comes across as unprofessional and some potential customers may not see you as a legitimate business.
The study also concluded that 65% of consumers consider a company branded email to be more credible than a generic email account such as Gmail, Outlook.com, AOL, or Yahoo mail. So, make sure you set up those company branded emails too!
- Increases Visibility and Discoverability: Don’t forget – everyone is online nowadays! When someone is searching for a product or service, chances are they will first try a Google search. They need to be able to find YOU and YOUR BUSINESS! With over 3.5 billion Google searches occurring each day, your customer could be seconds away from locating and patronizing your small business. Business websites allow potential customers to access your business and learn about your products and services 24/7.
- Increase Sales: Someone found one of your products and wants one! They search Google – and lucky them, they found your website! Having a website with a store (or with a list of places your items can be purchased- if you are a wholesaler) can increase sales dramatically. When a customer can’t find you – they either give up or look for a similar item from one of your competitors!
- Increase Leads: Think of it this way. Your website has the ability to work for you 24/7. While you have a life and can’t devote every hour of every day to growing your business, a (well-designed and impactful) website can! It’s a 24/7 salesperson so you might as well take advantage of it.
- Market Expansion: Maybe your business is a small brick and mortar business that would like to expand to a larger market. Having a website and making your products or services available across time zones and even across the world can grow your business and revenue exponentially. Regardless of their geographical locations, the people who visit your website are there because they have expressed an interest in what your business offers.
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Analytics: Using your small business website as a marketing and analytics tool will provide real time data for you that can help you in regards to marketing! Analytics provide information, without any extra work on your end, on things like:
- Demographics of your website visitors
- How visitors find your site
- The number of monthly/weekly/daily visitors to your website
- Which website pages are most visited
- How many pages visitors access per visit
- How much time they spend on each page
- How frequently visitors return to your website
While you can ask every customer where they found you, you may not always get a response or detailed data. Analytics gives you that detailed information in regards to the origin of your customers or which marketing campaigns work!
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Relatability: Using your company’s website to tell a story about you and your business begins a relationship with those people in need of your products or services. It is important to make sure your audience feel you understand them and in turn, let them know how your product or service could provide a benefit to their lives. The goal is to use your website to earn and retain a customer by successfully relating to and serving the customer.
Replying to emails and social media comments is a great way to build trust and personalize your small business experience.
Let’s be honest – consumers are no longer using the yellow pages to find products or services. They are going online, looking for your products or services. If they can’t find you – they will find your competitor! Not having a website puts your business at a competitive disadvantage.
If you already have a business website and you have promoted it (with ads and social media etc) but are not noticing that it’s helped – it may be time for a complimentary website performance review to help your business get the most of it’s website. Don’t know where to start and need help with your website? We are happy to help!