Why does a small business need a website?

No small business owner should underestimate the power of a smooth, aesthetically pleasing website that customers can navigate with ease. Think about it: where do most people turn when they want to seek out the hot new restaurant, the up-and-coming marketing boutique? The web of course! Believe it or not, however, roughly half of all small businesses lack a website.

You don’t have to let that be you!

A website is a great tool to help you keep your customers informed while also engaging them. Of course, it is easy to feel a little intimidated when you think of all the hard work that goes into getting a website up and running (and then maintaining it). In this article, we will focus on why a quality website is such a worthwhile investment for your small business.

Customer Expectations

As was already mentioned above, customers usually turn to the web when they want to learn something new or discover an excellent local business. In fact, 90% of all people count on the internet to lead them toward that next great thing.

Even then, a website offers you more than an opportunity to be discovered by people in your community. Your website is a place where you are able to house and create web content that promotes your brand and its values. When people visit your website, they should be able to tell almost instantly who you are and what you have to offer––quite similar to how customers can pick up on the ambiance of your physical store the minute they walk through the front door.

Even if people do know where to find you, they are going to want information about you and your business. A clean website allows both prospective and loyal customers to access important information about your business such as contact information, prices, and descriptions of the goods and services your small business offers. Most consumers expect a business’s information to be digitally accessible. If they can’t find it, around 44% of visitors will not bother looking at your website any further.

Bottom line: Consumers want to know as much information as possible about the companies they buy from and the goods they sell. You may easily miss out on opportunities to get new customers because of information that you are not revealing to the consumer. Meeting, and exceeding, the expectations of existing and potential customers is a point of entry that will help turn simple engagement into profitable conversions, and increase lead generation.

Social Proof and Testimonials

The truth is that people like it when they can hear from customers whether or not a product is worth the price. This is where social proof comes into play. Social proof creates a sense of popularity around your business in the mind of a potential customer. One popular form of social proof is the testimonial.

If a potential customer gets the impression that other people purchase your business’s goods and services, they will be more likely to do the same. It doesn’t matter that the good word is coming from someone they have never met before. A staggering 70% of consumers find value in the reviews of strangers.

Needless to say, you want to use social proof as a tool to create a strong, positive perception of your brand.

Credibility

A website helps build a small business’s credibility. Think of it as a digital business card; it looks official, is easy to access, and is a point of contact between your business and your customer. Credibility is also an important aspect of establishing your business in its industry. When a customer sees your business is credible, they can trust that you will deliver quality goods and services.

SEO

The real risk of building a website for your small business is not being able to utilise the website effectively. One way to effectively utilise the power of a website is to incorporate SEO best practices to boost your business’s visibility by boosting its rank in search engines such as Google.

Boosting your rank on popular search engines will make it easier for potential clients to view your website when searching for some of the products and services that your business offers. SEO best practices are especially important if you plan on creating blog content on your website. You will also want to utilise SEO best practices on any web pages that include a significant amount of text. This may include your about page, articles, or mission statement.

Access to Analytics

A website allows businesses to utilise digital engagement metrics that are useful in creating advertisements and web content. Tracking metrics allows you to analyse the methods you are using to attract customers and their effectiveness. If you are utilising social media platforms for advertisements, you can use your website’s link in social media advertisements to increase website engagement.

Customer Loyalty

A website also makes it easier to make use of emailing and text lists. Customers can voluntarily enter their email and numbers via your website. Emails and text messages are effective ways to relay information regarding new products, sales, and other important information to customers. This will also help you engage with customers in order to build a relationship with your customers so that they will become loyal, repeat customers. Customer loyalty will give you an edge against competitors in your industry that are also competing for the attention and purchasing power of your customers.

Costs

One major concern small business owners have about building a website is the cost. Websites are an investment, but they are investments that can have monumental returns. Utilising a website as a marketing tool is much less expensive than traditional advertising. If you are looking to cut down on costs while still growing your business, a website is a more cost-effective option. Especially if you are using SEO best practices in your website’s content.

Because of the vast array of content that is available on the internet, most people are spending large quantities of time online. Having a website allows you to capitalise off of this phenomenon by tapping into a space that already has the attention of potential customers. Website paired with digital advertising tools is a much more effective way to reach customers than traditional means of advertising. Tools like Facebook Ads and Google Pixel allow you to target audiences that are much more likely to buy your products, create advertisements, and create ads that will increase your web traffic and sales.

Time is Money

When it comes to building a website, the process can be long and tiring if you take on this task alone. This is why you should hire a professional web designer and marketer to build your website. If you are inexperienced in web design, the time it will take you to build a website may detract from the many tasks you already have to tackle as a small business owner. Time is money; you want your website up and running as soon as possible. As a small business owner, prioritising your time is a must so when you can, outsource work that may be outside of your wheelhouse to an expert.

Hiring an expert sets you up to get your website done right the first time around. Professional marketer are experts in their industry, just as you are an expert in yours. You may think it is expensive to hire a web designer to build your website, but it is surprisingly affordable. When you take into account the time you save yourself from having to spend on building a website yourself, hiring a web designer is worth the investment.

Working with myself at Jayne Kennedy Marketing will allow you to add a personal touch to your website that will create a clearer image of your brand in the eyes of your customers. Uniform templates are easy ways to create a business website without the help of a designer, but templates are formulaic and impersonal. Your brand is a unique entity with its own positive attributes and values. Your website should reflect that.

Tech Support

Professional marketers often offer technical support services for the companies and businesses they design websites for. Technical support services make it easier to troubleshoot and resolve issues and glitches that may happen with your website. Ensuring that you have professional help in solving these issues means you will already have a system in place to get technical issues solved quickly in order to minimise inconveniences for customers and minimise disruption within your business. Having a professionally designed website can minimise technical issues with your website as well. Loading speeds are faster when your website is designed professionally.

Marketers like myself are trained to optimise every function of your website to run as smoothly as possible on the web. Professionally designed websites are also typically easier to use. Easy to use websites create a digital space that is conducive to customer satisfaction, which creates a positive image of your website, your business, and your brand as a whole in the mind of your customers.

Brand and Web Aesthetic

A professionally designed website ensures that aesthetic and functional best practices are followed in designing your website. This will guarantee that your website is up to date with trends that meet customers’ demands. The more pleasant an experience a customer has on your website, the more likely they are to continue doing business with you.

Part of the online shopping experience is the visual aesthetic your website provides. Professional web designers can make sure that your website’s images align with your brand and provides a pleasurable visual experience for your customer. When creating a website, it is important to create one that is optimised for use on different types of devices.

A professional web designer ensures that your website’s aesthetic translates appropriately when viewed on different devices. This plays into the accessibility of your website. A properly designed website is accessible on laptops and smaller devices, such as smartphones and tablets, for customers who are looking to access your website on the go.

If your website is accessible on multiple devices, it will allow you to access customers through multiple forms of digital advertising so that you can maximise your reach, increase visibility, generate web traffic, and generate sales.

Visibility and Web Presence

As we discussed early on, SEO is an important tool that maximises the value of your website and elevates your rank on search engines, which is key to increasing your small business’s visibility. Not only can a web designer build your website and offer technical support services, but they can also implement search engine optimisation best practices into your website’s content.

SEO is a beneficial tool to utilise to establish an internet presence that a web designer can take on for you so you can focus on making your small business as successful as it can be. Your presence on the web is one of the most important marketing tools a small business can utilise. Having a website that is functional, easy to use, and professionally designed will allow you to use your internet presence as leverage to launch successful digital campaigns.

Risk vs. Reward

Creating a website is a lot to take on for a small business. Creating a website that is optimised for use on multiple devices, provides a pleasant visual experience for customers, and helps establish a web presence is challenging. However, they are important for businesses, especially small businesses, to maintain and grow their success in the digital age. 

Professional marketers are wonderful resources that can help you get the most out of your website so that you are able to remain competitive in your industry, even as a small business. Having a website is not only beneficial to thriving as a business, but it is vital. The risk your business may face in investing in a website exists only in not having one built at all, or having an improperly built website. Investing in a professionally built website may be a monetary investment upfront, but it is one that will aid in the growth and success of your small business.

Isn’t it expensive?

Can you really afford not to have a website given all of the above? It’s not that expensive, and many of my clients have their website built on a simple platform which allows them to take ownership of their website once it has launched and add content themselves along the way, keeping things cheaper. I also offer those wishing to re-do, update or optimise their existing website a service to do this.

Contact me for a free 30 minute chat about your business and building a website for you.