Is it really necessary to create a website for your small business? In this article, I will give you the reasons that will convince you that a business website is essential.
If you’re hesitating to create a website for your small or medium-sized business because you’re not sure if the investment is worth it or you don’t have the time, you’d better think again.
No matter what type of business you have, you most certainly need a website. If you’re still not sure, here are some reasons why all businesses, regardless of size, need a web presence.
Brand image and online reputation
When someone hears about your brand for the first time, one of the things they’ll do is search the Internet to find out about you and your company.
If they can’t find anything, you won’t get their attention and you’ll have lost a customer. But if you have a professional website, created to give and receive information, you may get future customers.
People sometimes confuse brand and reputation. Although they are complementary, they are different. While your company’s brand is about what you promise, your company’s reputation is about delivering on that promise – credibility.
A small business website can help build its reputation by telling customers what you offer (brand) and demonstrating your commitment through things like text and video testimonials and quality customer service (offering to contact you via live chat, for example).
Expansion of customer base
Expanding your customer base is one of the best reasons to create a small business website. It allows you to showcase your current and new products and services. In addition, small business owners can offer discounts, coupons, free items, and other incentives to keep their customers coming back for more.
It is also very important to keep your customers informed by conducting email campaigns or newsletters. For this, choose an email marketing software that is suitable for your needs. Thanks to such a tool, customers will be instantly informed of your promotions and news.
This way, they will never forget that your company exists and will be satisfied to receive information in a simple and comfortable way.
Another very interesting option is the possibility that your customers or users fill in a kind of questionnaire to know their satisfaction level. You will be able to know what they think about your company, what they are satisfied with and what they don’t like. With this useful information, you will be able to make the changes you deem appropriate to improve your service.
Beyond simply providing basic information (address, phone, hours, etc.) to your visitors right away, your business website offers your customers a place where they can learn more about your services.
You can include on your website video tutorials, infographics, downloadable guides, in short, all sorts of materials to speed up your prospect’s buying decision.
Increase business visibility
All businesses want customers to find them. As experts suggest that about 85% of potential customers are online and over 90% of them do so from their cell phones, if your business isn’t there, they won’t find you or your products or services.
Once customers find your website, make sure it’s easy to navigate, as this encourages buyers to stay connected. If it’s too complicated, difficult to maneuver, or full of pop-ups, they probably won’t come back. And if your site displays poorly on mobile, it won’t be an effective tool for your communication.
In the past, websites were only created to be viewed on a desktop or laptop computer. But with the rise of cell phones, websites are getting more visits from a smartphone. Today, the common practice is to make websites “responsive”.
Responsive websites allow your information to be viewed on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or cell phone. The site intelligently “shrinks” so that all your information can be read clearly.
When customers and prospects are on the go, they can always find you via their cell phones.
Your phone number, address(es), business hours, etc., can be made available to mobile device users so they can find you wherever they are.
In any case, creating a website is one of the best ways to advertise your small business. Promoting your website through tools such as social media, and a business blog allows you to attract customers to your site who will find you on Google or social networks such as Facebook or LinkedIn.
How to create your business website
If you don’t have the skills to create your own website, either you invest time to train yourself and use the right tools, or you delegate to a web agency to whom you will provide a precise brief of your expectations. You can also hire freelancers to provide you with this service at a low cost.
If you have decided that creating your own website is beyond your means, call upon a web agency or freelancers to create your custom website. Here are some tips to help you in this process:
- Remember that the customer is you, and the customer is always right. If you don’t like what they come up with, don’t hesitate to send them back as many times as necessary until you are satisfied with the result. Consider the suggestions they make, but if you don’t want to implement them, the decision is still yours.
- Be clear about the idea or concept you want for your website, so that the professionals you entrust with this valuable task can also be clear about what you want to achieve because they are professionals, but not soothsayers.
Harnessing the power of the corporate blog
When you create engaging content and build your brand, you also create authenticity and authority with search engines (Google) and your visitors.
Over time, they will know who they can trust on the Internet and who they will visit first. And if they visit you and trust you, they will surely buy from you too.
A blog is a collection of posts that will be displayed in search results and social media.
A blog can be defined as a flow of informative content around the professional field. It is therefore a different content that allows you to distinguish yourself from your competitors.
Unlike product/service pages, blog posts can be very popular on social networks, and can also target search queries (queries that aim to know a little bit more about your field of activity).
Your blog, articles, background information, and product/service descriptions show that you know your subject and that your information is reliable.
A study by Blue Niels showed that 27% of internet searches included words indicating a question, such as “how”, “why”, “where”, “what”, etc. Answering general questions is much easier via blog posts than via service pages.
The blog will be a new visibility channel for your business.
Answer your potential customers’ questions
Your customers have a lot of questions, so a blog can serve two purposes:
Increase your conversions by directly informing your visitors
Avoid having to repeat the same answers to essential questions (tedious, but essential work).
A blog will allow you to inform your audience. In relation to smart fridges, the questions can be: how does your device work, why is the detection of shortages effective, etc.
People may ask these questions without wanting to ask you directly and turn to other innovative devices for lack of answers.
Building a blog with these questions therefore saves time and increases efficiency (plus the visibility it brings).
Gaining the trust and interest of your potential customers
If you surf the web, it is likely that you regularly visit websites that interest you. You may not have known about these companies at first glance, but you have been interested in some of the articles and now you know your informants.
Answering essential questions helps gain the trust and interest of your potential customers (as well as their sympathy, which is no small thing in web marketing).
If you find a blog that explains in detail how an appliance works, and then you find out that the same website produces those appliances, which company would you go to first if any?
Finally,
Becoming a source of information will give you a competitive advantage over your competitors, in that you are the one who has informed your potential customers, and you are the one they will turn to first.
A blog takes time and effort to maintain, but it is a definite business asset. If you want to promote a product or an innovative project, a blog is a solid asset for your company.