If your business doesn’t have a website, you’re already behind on the competition. Here are some major reasons why you need a website.
In 2017, 88% of people researched products online before purchasing them in-store.
The internet is now a part of our shopping experience. Whether it’s through learning about products, reading online reviews, or comparing prices, we’re using the internet to help us make informed shopping decisions.
If you own a business and you don’t have a website, you’re missing out on the eCommerce market.
Want to learn more about why you need a website? Keep reading for 9 ways your business can benefit from an online presence.
As of October 2018, nearly 4.2 billion people were on the internet and 3.4 billion were on social media. If you don’t have a website, you’re missing out on this massive customer base.
Your website has the potential to reach customers all over the world at any time.
Think about the story you want to tell with your business? How do you want others to see you? Would you be okay with relying on a few online reviews to tell your story?
With a website, you can take control of your story. You can write about your company’s mission and values. You can tell the story about how you founded your company, and you can introduce team members.
You can start a blog and reflect your company voice in your blog posts. A website allows you to promote your company brand.
When you’re business is open, people can pick up the phone and call you to ask questions. If you have a store, they can walk into your store.
How about when your business is closed for the day? What if you’re not open on weekends? It’s not possible to stay open all day and night, right?
With a website, you’re providing a way for people to contact you 24/7. You can provide a contact form for visitors to send inquiries. You can even set up a ticketing system for customer support.
Even by just providing your email and contact number on your website, you’re taking a step to show visitors that you’re available. You’re building a relationship with customers and showing them that you care about their business.
If people aren’t finding you online, they’re finding your competitors instead.
Consider how people are looking for businesses online. Imagine you’re a wedding planner in Tampa. When someone is looking for wedding planners, they’re probably doing a Google search for the phrase wedding planner in Tampa.
If you don’t have a website, you won’t show up in the search results–but your competition will.
The marketing potential is unlimited when it comes to your business online. If you’re relying on word of mouth advertising or traditional advertising, you’re limiting your audience reach.
For example, with pay per click marketing, you can reach a customer base all over the world. You’re also able to target your audience based on demographics such as age, gender, and marital status.
You can further target your audience based on interests and hobbies. Own a pet grooming service? Target pet owners.
With pay per click marketing, you also have total control over how much you want to spend. You can set a daily maximum budget and a monthly one.
You pay based on the numbers of clicks you get. This ensures that you’re paying for results.
You can use your website to leverage the power of social media. Use your social media accounts to build a relationship with customers.
When people go to your social media profiles to learn more about your company, you can direct them to your website to check out your products and services.
You can do the same with a company newsletter. Create a newsletter to send out at regular intervals such as monthly or bi-annually.
In the company newsletter, you can tell customers about company news and provide interesting content. You can also showcase your website and encourage people to go to your website.
Think of your website as a platform for showing off your products and services.
List your products and services. Include high-quality images. Write product descriptions.
Show product reviews and recommendations. If you received any awards or testimonials, you can include that on your website too.
Imagine trying to figure out the number of customers that visit your store. How would you calculate the percentage of people who make a purchase or how much time they spent at your store?
With a website, you can track all these metrics and more. By installing a software such as Google Analytics, you can track the number of visitors on your website.
You can use this tool to see which web pages are the most popular. If you have a blog, you can see which blog page gets the most traffic. You can see which products and services people visit the most.
You can see which actions drive more traffic to your website such as a new marketing campaign.
It’s not as complicated as you think to set up a website. There are platforms that make it easy for you to create a website. There are even pre-made templates that you can customize.
However, if you want professional results, you should consider hiring a web design team to create your website.
A website allows you to showcase your brand and connect with customers. Your customers can find you online and can learn more about your business.
Want to learn more about why you need a website?
Contact us to learn more about how to expand your web presence and reach more customers.
