If your business has gotten this far without a website, you might be wondering: do I need a website for my business? What’s the point if my business is already successful without one? Since I have a small business with a small workforce, and since we don’t sell anything online, do I need a website?
Truth be told it doesn’t matter if your business is a month old, a year old or if it has been operating for over a decade in today’s digital world a business’s online presence, regardless of industry can have a massive impact on its success moving forwards.
Dependency on smart devices is rising, increasing the need for small businesses to create an online presence and drive sales in their location. In fact, 76% of consumers look for a company’s online presence before visiting in-person, according to a new report from Visual Objects, a directory of design and creative agencies. So given the current market and lead trends why would you want your business to fall behind by not having a website?
Often business owners give the same reasonings as to why they don’t need a website:
- I have enough business
- I am not tech savvy enough
- They are too expensive
- I don’t have the time
- We haven’t needed one yet
- Why fix what isn’t broken?
If you’ve used those phrases before or if just in general, you are still unsure if your business needs a website keep reading and let us explain the benefits.
1. Your website can attract new customers
You may be happy with the current size of your business, but all companies experience customer turnover. If you don’t act first by reaching new audiences and having a foundation in place to gain new leads, then you will not see any growth occurring within your business as time goes on. If anything, you may notice customers moving from your company to another with a more outward digital presence. Therefore, to encourage continued lead generation and attract new customers having a presence on google via your company website is important.
2. A business website makes you look professional and adds to your credibility
Having a website shows your customers that you take your business seriously. Often your company website is a customers first interaction with your business and first impressions count. A well-designed website can make or break a customer’s opinion of a business as it can help showcase your expertise in industry and better position your business or it can show that your business may not care about their work / is not trustworthy. A website can be your number one tool for standing out in a crowd. According to a 2020 study, 75% of online users accepted to judge a company’s credibility based on its website’s design and 56% of people stated that they won’t trust a business without a website. To businesses these stats should matter as these numbers are potential leads that you as a business could be losing out on if you do not have a website.
3. Having a website will end up saving you time
Whether you’re trading emails, taking calls, or sending out proposals – communicating with potential customers takes time. Your website can save you that time by providing answers to common customer questions and inquiries. How? Your website should be built to offer truthful and credible information about your business. Information you know customers will want to enquire about. Information such as who you are, what services you provide, where you are located and more. Often if businesses want to go a step further, they will even add in a FAQ page to answer commonly asked questions. What does this mean for you? You can spend your time doing more valuable things.
4. You can use your website to better control your narrative
Owning a business like everything else has its good days and its bad days but now in the digital world of 2022 this does mean that on bad days someone can easily leave a negative review on a Google my business or Facebook profile. This is where having a website can come in handy. You can use your website to show off the best of your business and this includes adding in positive reviews and testimonials from your customers. Do you host events? Show the pictures, do you have employee lunches? Let your customers know. Customers do care about how businesses operate and using your website to showcase your positive attributes can always help a new lead convert to a customer.
Hopefully, by now you’ve realized that the question isn’t “do I need a website for my business”, but “can I afford to not have a website in the digital era”. The answer? if you want to continue thriving in the long term then no you cannot afford to not have a website. You don’t need a fancy elaborate website just one that is clean looking, mobile compatible, and correct in its supplied information. Need help building and designing? You can always contract web developers such as We Fix IT to do the job!
