Signs Your Business Needs A Website
Many business owners put off the need for a website for several reasons one of which is that their business is doing fine without one. Even if this is true, you may have started to see signs your business needs a website design, but you choose to ignore them. Could this hurt your business in the long run?
If you’re still undeciding on whether or not designing a website for your business is worth the time and money, here are some signs that it’s time to kick start it.
1. Your Business Exists
Yes, you read that right. This may come as a surprise but the fact that your business exists means you need a website. You may think your business is too small to have one or your targeted audiences/customers are not on the internet, but owning a website might be one of the ways you reach more people and grow your business.
No matter the industry you are in, you will always find a competitor in that same industry whose business has a website. In 2016, an Investigative Stats research showed that the number of websites has almost doubled: from 900 million to 1.7 billion, and that number is expected to keep rising.
2. The Need To Own Your Message
Many depend solely on popular social media or a third party website to list their businesses on. While this may be a quicker and cheaper way to run your business online, you should not forget you don’t really own that business page/space.
Most social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have their terms of use, and you have to always be wary of how you send your messages and how you interact with your customers, lest, your business could be removed.
Many business owners have had to start from scratch after their businesses were removed or banned for one reason or the other. Most times this is devastating for business owners.
Owning your own website creates a permanent home for your business on the internet. You decide all “whats” and “hows”. You are the author and moderator of your website. This gives you the kind of freedom you can never achieve on a third party platform.
3. Your Business Is Online Based
One of the signs your business needs a website is if you have a business that is online based, weather it is an e-commerce business or you render a services over the internet, you should understand that you need your own website.
Businesses that can fully operate physically may need a website but the endgame of your business plan should be you owning your own website, even if you are currently doing well on a third party platform. It gives your business a global outlook and presents your portfolio in a professional way.
4. A Customer Asks For Your Web Address
People fully expect that any company they do business with will have a web presence. Even if they already know about your company, a website is the easiest way to look up your address before heading to the store, or double-check your hours so they don’t head out for no reason.
Consumers today don’t want to have to pick up a phone to find that information, or go to a phone book to find your number, for that matter. While you can list some of that information on sites like Yelp or in your Google business listing, customers have more confidence that they can trust what they’re seeing on your own business website.
5. Build Your Business Credibility On Web
The first thing many people who want to do business with you do is check the internet for your website. Having a business website boosts your credibility and also give potential customers confidence to work with you.
Research has shown that 75% of consumers admit to making judgements on a company’s credibility based on the company’s website.
A good & engaging website with all important elements right in the front of customers definitely brings sense of satisfaction. It helps them trust your business & move further with next step, i.e. purchase.
6. You Want To Boost Your Online Marketing
If you spend any time at all reading articles for entrepreneurs and small business owners, you’ve seen lots of talk about the value of social media marketing, content marketing, and SEO. Those are all tactics your competitors are probably already benefitting from, but that you can’t even try until you have a website to promote. This is one of the important signs your business needs a website.
Even more importantly, they tend to be more effective and provide a better ROI than other types of advertising. If you’re currently putting all your ad spend toward social media and regular media ads, you’re not getting the biggest values for your money.
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