Having recently visited a county show, finding a product I really liked, I tried to search for it online to see where and how I could purchase it again. The business did not have a website…
Most people now search the internet for products or services. Just think about how you find your information! Your future customers are likely to do the same…
In 2017 over 2 million UK small businesses still did not have a website.
With everything going digital, how can a small business grow without a digital presence?
Businesses that have a web presence perform much better than those that don’t. Add to this an active social media presence and a small business is set for growth.
Here are 5 reasons why small businesses need websites!
1. Credibility
A website shows you are a proper business, that you believe in your business and that you have invested in it! Modern consumers expect a business to have a website for them to explore, hence it gives your business instant credibility.
Beware:
Even if your business has a website, it can still turn a future customer away from you.
A website, created on a website builder and hosted for free, still showing the website builder's name, leaves a bad impression.
Why can’t the business afford to pay for the hosting, are they cash strapped, do they not invest in their own business – are all questions, which come to future clients’ minds.
…and a badly maintained website is likely to do the same.
A website, which is not easy to view or navigate on a mobile device, not securely hosted and showing a warning next to the URL, old design and layout, poor use of colours and font, challenging user interface, spelling errors, etc., etc. Most will probably click away every time they encounter one of these sites.
2. Brand Development
When people think of branding, they usually think about a logo.
It’s true that a logo is a big part of a company’s image. But it’s so much more than that.
A brand is the entity of a business. It’s what comes – and stays – alive in the minds of consumers. It doesn’t just set your business apart from others. It’s the personality that customers come to know and trust.
A website is the most relevant and useful platform to make your business’s personality known.
Companies can both illustrate and reflect their brands with design, layout, and content. But most importantly, they can more easily tell their story.
Today people simply love stories and your future customers are the same!
When they buy a product or service, in a way, they become part of the brand and its story.
If they love your story – they want to become part of it…
3. Marketing
The days of newspaper or magazine advertising are waning. The cost alone drives many small businesses not to use them to promote themselves.
Nowadays, whenever a person searches for something online, they get a long list of websites to click on. While this is great news for websites that rank higher, it’s not so good for those that rank lower. And often small businesses are the ones that don’t do so well on search engine result pages.
With lower visibility, it becomes harder to compete and generate more web traffic. But with SEO and digital marketing, small businesses can easily rank higher.
Content Is a commodity and king on the internet. As the web is a trove of information, this has become a commodity that’s both valuable to the consumer and a business.
The best place to get your business content and story out there is your website!
It’s a great place to tell the story of your business, your products and services. Including common search terms and keywords in your content will do much to help with the SEO of your website. It'll start to climb up the ranking in search engines. Content is a big reason why small businesses need websites.
4. Competition
If your competitors are digital, then your business needs to be, too!
A website and social media presence are important to your business, even if you have a physical presence in a High Street.
How would your business compete for customers, when your competitors actively promote themselves and their location on social media and their websites.
Your business needs to meet the expectations of modern consumers.
And, as mentioned above, future customers rarely take businesses seriously, if they don’t have a web presence. To them, if businesses aren’t investing in their web presence, they don’t care about how well they do….
It’s perceived as poor business practice; they don’t want to waste their time and money on possibly low-quality products and services. Instead, they’d rather invest their money on something worthwhile, or, at least, on a business that takes itself seriously.
5. Control
The right website gives a small business control over what people see, how the business is perceived and can engage them more effectively.
Nowadays, with Google Analytics you can gather a lot of data from your website, which is useful to analyse whether your website and its pages are working for your business.
This is a powerful tool for your company, as there is less guesswork and more concrete evidence on people’s behaviour and thought patterns, as you can see which pages are visited most and how long someone stays on that page to explore its content.
The active social media presence of your small business is a great way to drive traffic your website. The site analytics can tell you from which of your channels the traffic has come.
Your business can easily expand beyond local borders. Website analytics can tell you from where your audience is logging in from. This could lead you to a business strategy of expansion.
The more eyes see your business, the better and ultimately, the more business is to be had.
Website design does not have to be expensive! So talk to us about yours...
Konzepts creates engaging, effective websites for small businesses at a very affordable price. Go on - explore