The Top 10 Reasons Every Small Business Needs A Website

When you own a small business, you have so many things on your plate. You have to balance the books, make your payroll, manage your employees, keep your customers happy, order supplies, deal with vendors, and so much more! Sometimes, you have to do all of those things in the same day. It is exhausting! A person with a small business does not need one more thing on their plates.

As the way companies do business changes, more things, unfortunately, end up in the lap of small business owners. Now they have to add marketing and web design to their many duties.  At this point, many just throw up their hands and give up. No one has time to do everything those jobs entail on top of all their other responsibilities.

Having your own website doesn’t have to be a pain in the caboose. You can hire a marketing agency who will meet with you, help you figure out precisely what you need, and help you achieve your professional goals. Working with a marketing company for your website saves you the headache of trying to do this on your own. Now you don’t have to worry about picking the perfect template, choosing a hosting company, picking a marketing automation tool, etc. You have an expert who will handle all of that for you, so you can focus on what you are truly good at…and that is running your business.

Let’s take a look at the reasons your small business needs a website and how you can find a marketing agency and designer that has your best interest at heart.

1. Provides a level of professionalism to your business

While almost anyone can decide to start a business, having a website makes it official. Websites make things even more official than a business card! Having a website for your company sends the message to the world that you are for real and should be taken seriously. You can use your site to showcase your products, your employees, and the advantage of shopping or working with your company.

Think of things from the eyes of a customer. If they find two companies on the internet but only one has a website, who do you think they will choose? Who will leave the better first impression? More often than not, it will be the business with a website.

However, don’t just publish any ole’ thing on the web and think that will work for you. A bad website can be almost as much of a “kiss of death” as no site is. If your website doesn’t communicate clearly to your customers or isn’t user-friendly, that can also be a turnoff. Work with a marketing agency or a web design firm to create a site that will work for your business and your customers. They can integrate your eCommerce (if you are a seller), social media links, email signup, blogs, product offerings, and anything else you can think of onto your site. This form of a one-stop-shop for all things related to your company will leave an excellent impression on potential and existing customers and help you gain additional clients in the process.

2. Helps you extend your reach beyond your current customer base and grow your business

Thanks to the internet, we are no longer confined by physical boundaries. If a customer in California finds a product they want at a company in Delaware, all it takes is a few clicks to order that product and have it shipped directly to their doorstep. No longer do you have to wait until your next trip to a particular city or see if someone you know locally can pick up an item for you. You can do it yourself in the span of a few moments.

Without a functioning website, this transaction would not have been possible. The sale made to that customer would have gone to another company. If the customer was happy with your product, that positive word of mouth and potential future purchases would have also gone to another business. With an effective website, you don’t have to worry about losing any sales. You can capture guests outside of your immediate geographic zone.

3. Provides you with an efficient way to market your business and develop your brand image

Marketing and branding are areas that can consume a ton of a company’s time and money. When you have a website, it can do some of that marketing for you. A polished website conveys the proper brand image and can include a page with your latest promotions, sales, and other relevant information. Instead of calling all your customers to let them know or writing postcards, you can use an email blast and direct customers to your website.

Keeping a current website will also save you money. Instead of spending money on brochures, catalogs, or other print materials, you can utilize your site instead. This lets you change and update things in the moment and not worry about printing costs.

Marketing can eat up a small business budget. But if you wisely spend these funds on a functioning website, it can save your company thousands of dollars on printed materials. Not only is this cost-effective, but it is a more eco-friendly option. Younger consumers prefer less paper anyway, so this is a chance to modernize and appeal to that demographic. A website is a smart expenditure of those marketing dollars.

4. Provides you with a way to distinguish yourself from your competitors

When you create your company, you develop your story. What makes your brand special is a way to separate yourself from the competition. Your website becomes the vehicle for you to tell that story. Anything that could help a customer connect to your company and understand why you do what you do should be a part of your site. You can use useful details like any certifications you have or how many years you’ve been in business.

Sadly, as we mention elsewhere in this article, website use by small business owners is still barely over 50%. Another way to set yourself apart from others in your industry is actually to have a website. Not only will this be a distinction, but it can also be a competitive edge.

5. Help keep your business relevant

Business is tough in the current climate. There is more competition than ever before. And thanks to the internet, we are no longer confined by physical boundaries. A savvy business owner has to take advantage of every possible opportunity. Having a website will help you do just that. A thoughtful website can give you a competitive advantage over your peers and gets your name out to customers. At the very least, a website helps level the playing field between you and your competitors. Without some type of site, people won’t know who you are or be able to find you.

Don’t get me wrong, social media is better than nothing. If you have zero digital presence, that won’t work in today’s day and age. But a Facebook page isn’t enough. It is a great start, but to get your business at the front of customer’s minds, a web site is a must. If people don’t know who you are or where to find you, you can’t be relevant.

6. Without a presence on the web, customers won’t find your business

When people start on their journey to find a product or a business that provides a particular service, what do you think is the first thing that they do? Until a few years ago, the first thing they did was go to the phone book or ask their friends and family. Now, the first thing they do is an internet search (or ask for tips on social media). Google has become the modern-day phone book.

Statistics show that close to 90% of consumers begin their purchasing journey by doing comparative shopping and research on the internet. These searches impact their purchases. If you don’t have a website, how will consumers know that you sell what they are looking for? The lack of a website will really take a toll on your sales.

Even though we have focused a great deal on converting sales from an eCommerce standpoint, websites can help provide your business with additional foot traffic as well. If a person is searching for local camping stores to see who carries a particular brand of cooler and comes across your website, they might not want to purchase online. They may want to come in and see if they like it. If so, this is a chance to gain a new customer and upsell them on additional products for their trip. And none of this would have been possible without a website.

7. Provides your business with credibility and a first impression

Today so much business begins with interactions online. Your website is the first impression you give to customers in our modern world. If you are a brick-and-mortar store, you still want to provide stellar service to each and every person that walks through your doors. But you have to consider that they may have already checked you out online. Your website now serves the role that smiles and greetings used to serve when you entered a store for the first time.

There are very few stores in this day and age that don’t have some type of online presence. If a prospective customer is searching for your business and discovers that you don’t have a website, what kind of impression do you think that leaves them with? A business without a site won’t be taken seriously. As a matter of fact, you may be viewed as not credible in your field. Statistics show that close to half of small businesses did not have a site as of early 2019. There is a segment of the population that will not work with you unless you do. You are passing on the revenue generated by Gen Z, Millennials, and about half of Generation X. Stats show that 84% of customers are more likely to trust a business with a website.

Your website is also a chance to tell your story to the masses. You get to share with the public why you do what you do. If you design clothing, this is your chance to tell everyone why you are passionate about your craft. If you are a writer, you get to tell everyone why you chose this path. Take this opportunity to share this piece of yourself with the world. Your story could be why someone connects with you and wants to do business with you.

8. eCommerce business is growing every year

When the world of eCommerce first started, it felt like a nice thing to have, not a requirement. Oh, how times have changed! Without a way to retail your product online, you are missing a massive chunk of market share.

By 2022, eCommerce sales will account for 15% of total retail sales. That may not seem like much, but that 15% comes out to $892 billion. That is no small chunk of change. Researchers at this point don’t know what or if there is a ceiling to the percentage eCommerce sales will mean to a business.

Without a website, you are forfeiting a potential 15% of your sales or more. Does that sound like a smart business move? I don’t think so. In today’s volatile world, you want to make sure you have done everything you can to maximize every sale opportunity.

And as we’ve already discussed, an eCommerce presence opens your business up to customers who didn’t know you before. Without a website, you miss those opportunities. Websites also help you capture more sales from your existing customer base as well. It is just too big of a risk to take in today’s contracting business environment.

9. Lead generation and growing your email list

This is something that most people will agree on. We all get too much email. When stores ask us for our email address, we are hesitant to give it to. Even stores that we already get emails from, we don’t like to give it to them again. We get nervous and think that somehow we will get even more emails from them. Some people have a secondary email just for stores to send their “junk emails,” too. Companies have a lot to learn when it comes to email marketing techniques and best practices. Consumers should not feel this overwhelmed by their sales emails. But that could be another article all to itself.

So why do we feel so much more comfortable entering our email on a website versus giving it to a person? There is no good explanation for that. It could be that we are more apt to give our email to a website since it’s our choice. In a store, we feel pressured and like we have less choice since staff aggressively push for our information.

There are countless tools you can add to your website that will help you capture the emails of visitors to your site. Pop-up forms can help generate your company even more revenue. They will range in price, but most are very budget-friendly. Once you capture a new email address, follow that up with a welcome email to your new prospect. Once again, you don’t have to worry about doing this yourself. Having an agency set it all up or using an email automation tool can take care of those things for you. You might be interested in using a tool like Hubspot or Mailchimp. Those tools will automatically send welcome emails to anyone who signs up via your website. They can also manage all your existing email contacts and send them accurately segmented emails.

10. Business websites allow you to show up in local business results

 

Thanks to Google’s search algorithms, a website gives you another benefit. Having a site means you will show up in their local pack of results. When people Google terms like “coffee shops in (insert specific neighborhood here), searchers get results for that specific neighborhood. If you don’t have a local website, you won’t be a part of their local search results pack. Not being a part of those search results is another blow to your sales and bottom line. You can’t take a hands-off approach to generating more sales for your business. It’s too competitive now to sit back and hope customers just show up.

Local search results are an area where Local SEO (search engine optimization) skills come into play. Don’t get nervous or intimidated by hearing those terms. SEO refers to techniques used to get your site to rank higher in Google. When your marketing agency builds your website, they will use targeted phrases that will help you show up in local search results. Things like “top chiropractor in Cleveland” or “divorce attorney in Phoenix” are terms they will include in your written content to boost your rankings and discoverability. They will also make sure you have claimed your Google Business listing and that the information is correct. Those small, simple steps will boost your visibility in Google’s local search packs, in turn driving more sales your way. Local SEO can have some quirks, which is why it’s important to hire a trained marketing agency. This way, they know all the nuances that are part of local SEO and can harness and use them to your advantage.

Why you Should Hire A Professional Marketing Agency

When websites and digital marketing were in their infancy, there were not tools that allowed mere mortals to develop websites or fun graphics for our digital channels. Without a professional, websites and their collateral were an absolute mess. Today, the mortals have multiple tools at their disposal for sites and collateral creation.

However, all these tools come with a drawback. Do business owners have the time to manage all of these things, too, in addition to all of their other responsibilities? That answer is no. And as another point, business owners are experts in their own fields. Unless it’s a marketing agency or web designer creating something for their own firm, this isn’t what small business owners were trained for. Think about it; you don’t hire a marketing agency to dry clean your suit jackets or clean your floors. Likewise, the dry cleaner and janitorial service shouldn’t do their own marketing!

Marketing and design firms are trained to create a website, take your companies story, create a brand story, and so much more. They also keep your site current and stay up to date on Google’s changing algorithms. This allows you to do what you do best, run your business. Business owners do not have time to update their site, send emails, make social media posts, in addition to payroll and managing employees. Marketing companies can meet with you to understand your needs and create a package that meets those needs and your budget.

Look at it this way, hiring a company to handle your website and marketing needs is an investment. A business owner made a considerable investment when starting their company. You used either your savings or took out loans to secure property, pay employees, secure vendor contracts, and many more things. Why wouldn’t you invest in advertising your brand and ensuring a future customer base? When viewing a website through those terms, the choice is an easy one to make. Your site is simply one more investment in your company.

When choosing a marketing agency to work with, don’t be scared to ask for samples of their work and who their existing clients are. Ask them what they think their strengths are and make sure that matches your needs. You want to make sure you are making a good investment and picking the best marketing agency for your needs.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that quality products are quality for a reason. A good example of this are microphones. There are microphones that cost $99 and there are microphones that cost $9,000. They are not the same. Knowing that, you must understand that you will get what you pay for, and sometimes what you get when you work with a cheap fly-by-night design agency can be utterly terrifying. (Trust us, we hear the horror stories of website owners not being able to access their own dot-coms, and worse.)

Tying It All Together

Designing and having a business website can be a headache for a small business owner. They already wear multiple hats each and every day. But without a presence on the web, a business can’t reach its full potential. Websites and Google are our versions of the phone book. The reasons above show why you need a site, and have statistics to back that up.

Although a multitude of tools exist for business owners to create and run their sites, that isn’t always the best choice. Professional marketing agencies and designers are up-to-date on all the current trends in design and algorithm changes from Google. Business owners don’t have the time to keep up with all this information. Investing in a professional marketing agency will help you keep your website and marketing plans current and fresh.

Want to book a marketing consultation for your small business? Schedule one using our booking calendar below:

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