Statistics show businesses with websites and an online presence achieve higher than those without one. It is no secret that for a business to succeed it needs some form of a Unique Selling Point (USP), and these days we find that most marketing and consumption is done online by a new breed of online consumers. The purpose of a USP is the notion that you have something consumers want to buy or experience, and the perfect platform for selling this is your own website.
1. CREDIBILITY
A business, especially small ones, shouldn’t solely rely on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc to be the online presence of your business. Most companies and businesses have websites and therefore modern online consumers need their expectations to be met. If they come across a business without a website it may leave a bad impression and portray a lack of credibility.
However, don’t be fooled by the idea that having a website is all you need. You need to ensure your website is of quality standard and not simply a meshing of ideas and promotions. This alone is enough to deter anyone.
Make sure if your business has a website, it doesn’t use old designs and layouts, awkward colour schemes and difficult-to-read fonts, and worst of all, that there are no spelling mistakes! That just screams unprofessional.
As a business owner you may not have the skillset to create your own website, however, in this digital era, there are plenty of web developers who are happy to do the job, just make sure you choose the right one for you!
2. MARKETING
Being a small business, trying to be noticed amongst the competition can be daunting, however, there are ways to increase your visibility in the sea of search engine results. When creating or maintaining a website it is important to become familiar with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), as it works parallel to search engine algorithms selecting the elite few websites that get to appear on the first page of a search. In short, the higher your SEO the higher your website will be ranked which is great for marketing!
SEO functions by matching keywords from your website to the terms and phrases searched by web consumers and then providing them with a list of websites that are relevant. This is great for high-ranking websites, and unfortunately, it is usually small businesses that tend to not do well on the results page.
Not to fear, as this means it is achievable, you just have to ensure that your website meets the requirements for a high SEO score.
Remember, maintenance on your website is vital, as when a person is bombarded with slow-loading pages and “404 Errors” they tend to simply click away. One thing that search engine algorithms do look for is “Web Traffic” (How many visitors your website has and how frequently it’s viewed).
So, in short, the information you use on your website is crucial to its success, and content is one of the key reasons small businesses need websites.
3. BRANDING
This one seems a bit self-explanatory; your website is part of your brand, including your logo and image, and an overall sense of the personality of the business. whether it’s serious, quirky, busy or sleek, all businesses need a sense of identity. Your brand needs to be somewhat unique from the competition and stand out as a recognisable entity amongst the rest, however, the most important part of branding, is becoming a business that previous consumers and new consumers feel they can trust.
Again, if you haven’t got anything like this already, as aforementioned, there are thousands of companies and teams that help put a business’s brand on the map allowing web consumers to become familiar with the personality of your business. Don’t simply depend on word of mouth, as a famous proverb said, when something goes right, you tell your inner circle, when something goes wrong you tell the world.
4. COMPETITION
As previously mentioned, most businesses have an online presence, even if it is just on social media platforms, however, those that lack a website will simply stay in the shadows of those that do due to three major factors:
- Online consumers will only be exposed to businesses that have websites, those that don’t highly depend on word of mouth and Facebook comments…
- Small businesses are already competing with the big brands and the set expectations, which include a website!
- Consumers are unlikely to take a website seriously if they haven’t invested in themselves and kept up with trends, in such a digital era. Why would they invest their money in a business which fails to invest in its own online presence, it simply translates into outdated business.
5. CONTROL
This is the notion that business owners are in control of how their business will be perceived by web consumers, through the branding and content on their website. A website is like a window into the business, a reflection of the service they will receive.
More importantly, website owners can see how popular their page is, where the views are coming from and the duration of visits, which means you can keep on improving the website and adjusting to your target audience.
These are only a few of the many reasons why websites are of the utmost importance. There is a multitude of benefits of having a website, why not see it for yourself? Check out www.absolute-websites.com today and find the perfect plan for you.
“No employee will advertise your business 24/7, but a website will.”
