Why Do You Need a Website?
10 Reasons You Need A Website
To compete in a crowded market, you need a strong online presence—and we don’t just mean a DIY site, a Google listing, and a Facebook page. You need a well-planned, optimized marketing strategy with online, social, and mobile components. Why? Because that’s where your customers are searching. The average consumer consults 11 sources before making a purchase, and for the first time ever, digital ad spend has surpassed traditional marketing.
If you run a local business, no matter your target area, you’d better be thinking online, social, and mobile. The first piece of that strategy—and maybe the most essential—is your company website.
Think you can squeeze by one more year without one? Or that the site your cousin’s brother’s sister-in-law made will tide you over? Think again. Thirty percent of consumers won’t consider a business without a website. People expect local businesses, regardless of size, to have an online presence—and not just any presence. Nearly 9 out of 10 consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience.
So why do you need a website, and how do you make sure it turns shoppers into buyers? Here are 10 essential reasons to strengthen your online presence with a mobile-responsive site.
1. You Need a Digital Business Card
Americans spend, on average, 23.6 hours online each week and nearly 5 hours a day on their phones. If you want to be found where people spend their time, you need accurate information about your company living in that space.
A website works like a digital business card: people can return to it again and again for contact information, employee names, services offered, and more.
2. You Need to Be Discoverable in Search Results
People don’t just browse the internet to find companies to do business with—they go to search engines. 93% of online experiences start with a search, and nearly half of those searches are for local businesses.
So you need a search-optimized website that ranks well. That’s how consumers find, and connect with, your business.
3. Consumers Search with Proximity in Mind
An optimized website helps you show up in search results, especially since people tend to reach for their phones or computers to find things close to them. In fact, 4 out of 5 consumers use search engines for local information.
And these aren’t idle searches. 88% of people who search for a local business on a mobile device either call or visit within 24 hours. A website lets nearby searchers discover you and get in touch.
4. It Can Help You Build Credibility
First impressions matter when you’re convincing someone to buy. Fifty-seven percent of people won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site. Consumers judge your business by the look of your website, plain and simple.
A professional, thorough, easy-to-use website tells potential customers you’re a reputable organization—one they want to do business with.
5. SEO Is a Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy
Every company wants the most bang for the least buck. In marketing, a search-optimized website is one of the most cost-effective strategies going.
Thinking about tackling SEO yourself? We wouldn’t suggest it—you’ve got a business to run. But there are a few basic tactics that can position you to get found through search.
6. Google Ranks Local Businesses Higher on Mobile Searches
Google assumes someone searching on their phone is on the go and looking for a business nearby, so it favors local businesses in mobile searches.
A mobile-optimized website lets you take advantage of that preference and land higher on the results page. That improves your odds of a customer finding you in the moment they’re looking—and getting in touch.
7. Your Website Stays Open 24 Hours a Day
Unlike your business, which probably doesn’t operate after hours, your website stays open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even when your staff isn’t available, your site keeps working—providing information, serving as a point of contact, even taking purchases and orders.
8. Your Competitors Probably Have One
While 36 percent of small businesses don’t have their own website, 64 percent do. The majority are already online, which means your competitors likely have a site that appeals to people in your area.
If you want to stay relevant and competitive, you need a footprint online. It keeps you in the game and cements your reputation as a forward-thinking, tech-savvy business.
9. It Can Help Your Business Grow
If you’re hoping to expand and bring in new customers, a website is a key strategy. Small businesses that launch one tend to be happy they did: 81 percent of companies that launched a site saw their business grow, and 97 percent of small business owners would recommend having a website to other owners.
10. It Lets You Hone Your Brand and Image
A website is a great place to shape your brand—your aesthetic, your vocabulary, your story. It’s the ideal forum to control the narrative about your company.
Social media pages like Facebook and review sites like Yelp let the public shape your image instead. That can help, but it doesn’t always paint the picture you’d prefer. When you build and manage your own site and content, you get to paint that picture yourself.
Tips for Creating a Website for Your Local Business
By now you’re probably convinced a website matters for your local business. So how do you design one? Keep these tips in mind so your site functions well, looks good, and brings in the business you’re after.
1. Make Sure It’s Optimized for Mobile
Mobile is the preferred device for most online activity—60% of Google searches happen on a phone. Since that’s where people spend their time, and since Google penalizes sites that aren’t mobile-friendly in search rankings, make sure yours is optimized for mobile.
2. Make Sure It Looks Professional
As we said, design can build or break credibility. Make your website look professional so you don’t turn potential customers away. Consider hiring a professional designer; that one-time investment can pay off big in the long run.
3. Have a Good Web Host
Use a good web host so your website loads quickly. Fast load times matter—53% of people say they’ll abandon a site that doesn’t load in three seconds on mobile. Slow load times also drag down your SEO ranking.
4. Feature Your Name, Address, and Phone Number
One of your website’s main jobs is to get potential customers to reach out. Yet more than 70 percent of local businesses have no clear call to action on their site, and 27% don’t even list a phone number on the home page. Make your contact information—name, address, and phone number—prominent and easy to find.
Make it as easy as possible for people to get in touch.
5. Embed Your Social Media
Include feeds from your social pages on your site—Facebook posts, Tweets, Instagram photos, and more. Add links and follow buttons too, so visitors can share the attractive, informative pages you now have.
Your website can grow your social media footprint and win you more followers, who may ultimately become paying customers.
If you run a local business, a strong online, social, and mobile marketing strategy is essential—and the best place to start, or refresh, is your website. With a well-designed, optimized site, you can reach a new audience of leads who become customers, and maybe even loyal ambassadors for your brand.