I have been a professional web designer for more than 9 years now. In all my years, I never bothered to clearly articulate to myself why people get a website. To me, and I think most web designers, the benefits of having a website are pretty obvious. Also, I have always designed websites for people who approached me for a website, that is, people who already know about the benefits of the website and now want one.
Because this is the beginning of the year (when I first wrote this article), I have had a lot of conversations with small business owners about their plans for the year and trying to nudge them to prioritise their digital presence. Most of the small business owners kept asking me one thing: ‘why should I have a website when I am doing fine without one?’
For a person like myself who see the benefits as obvious, I had to take time to clearly explain the benefits of having a website. From my notes, here are the top five benefits I think you will enjoy as a business owner:
1. Tapping into a new customer base
I want you to think about your customers/clients/people you serve for a few seconds. Where did you find them from? I will guess that these are people you already knew or people who are known by people who you already know (referrals) or these are people you scouted for yourself (cold calling). This is great and amazing!
However, there are people who need your business, whom you don’t know and they don’t know you. How are those people to contact you? Well, they can say they can go on Facebook or Twitter. But Facebook or Twitter is not optimised for people to find information about you, it is optimised for people to see the latest posts. So these warm leads (potential customers that are willing to buy) will go on Google and search for your product in your area and buy from the people they find first.
As a result of not having a website, you lose new customers. You really need a website if you want to expand beyond what you already know!
2. Building trust with new clients
Let’s continue with our above example, say by a miracle, without a website, you also appear on Google search results when the client looks for you. Studies suggest that the majority of clients first research the company before making any significant purchase.
Having a website suggests that you are a very serious business that is prepared to exist for a long time, not a fly-by-night scam or fad. When it comes to long-term repeat purchases, customers want to ‘partner’ companies that are going to be there when they want the service again, not someone who will take their money and disappear. A website will make you appear as the serious business that you intend to be.
3. Sharing information the way you want it, whenever you want
Let me share with you something no one is going to tell you, if you post on Twitter, your tweet will only be ‘current’ for around 18 minutes, after that, it passes the timeline of whoever is viewing for them to view the next current tweet. On Facebook, your post will be current for people to see for like 16 hours. This is why you need to share information on these websites every single day. Also, your tweet about your 50% discount on school sweaters is competing with Tweets from Elon Musk, angry tweets about politics and some condolence messages. Also, also, you don’t have control or power over how your profile is structured, what’s important or where everything should go. You are told ‘this is where you put your location’, ‘this is where you put your opening hours’ etc.
On the contrary, a website is yours and yours alone. Your messages are always fresh and relevant to the person visiting. The person visiting gets all the information you want them to have, in a manner you want them to have it. You are the boss of the place, you determine what is published, when and how. Try that with Twitter!
4. You can have a fighting chance
Let’s be honest, the people you should be competing with have a website. Any industry leader or formidable participant in any industry has a website because to be an industry leader you need to be a serious business and serious businesses have a website. If you don’t have a website, you will always be the second option for clients. To be on top of the mind and exist in a leadership position, you will need to act like a serious business, and serious businesses have a website.
5. You can actually win
Assuming you have everything in order, a website can help you announce dominance. For example, let’s assume you want to position yourself as a professional and/or luxury hair salon. You would want to do what any professional salon does, have a website. This applies to any industry or field. This is why every time we see a big company with a website that is down we correlate it to falling standards, likewise, our brains associate a company that has a good website as a seriously big company.
So, if you have a website, you have significantly higher chances of getting new customers, getting big (business) clients, and being confidently promoted by your fans or people who admire your work.
If you are in the business of growing your company, growing your clients, serving your clients and making money, then you definitely need a website. It will get you to your goals.
If you have decided that you want a website, then you are in the right place. At AmaHappenings.com I offer beautiful websites, designed in a short space of time and at a low cost of $100. If you want one, please fill in the form below or read more about it here. If you would like to engage with this article, jump to the comment section. Otherwise have a great day.
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