A business website is not just about having a place to put your company profile and contact information; it's also about building credibility with potential customers and maintaining your company’s online identity. A professionally designed website is one of the most important investments for any business and can serve your company well for years to come.
1. Gain Your Customers’ Trust
In today's Information Age, your customers expect you to have a website and the majority of people won't trust your business if it doesn’t have one. 75% of people will judge a company’s credibility based on its website design. More than 50% of smartphone users are discovering new companies or products when searching on their phones, so not having a site could be severely damaging to your company’s credibility.
2. Manage Your Brand / Control the Narrative
As customer opinion is driven mostly by what others have to say about your business, you must be able to reach them when they need or want information. While some customers may be satisfied just using the reviews and ratings on review sites like FourSquare or Yelp, some people will expect more than a rating of 5-star for their trust to be gained and fresh, engaging website can be just the tool you need to impress customers and control the narrative around your brand.
A website is the best way to get your marketing message out there and can be a key part of any branding strategy. It gives potential customers a first impression and can be used to show off your products or services, explain what you do as different from the competition, and why they should choose you over them.
3. Maximize Reach via SEO
It's not enough to just have a website anymore, it needs to be search engine optimised for people to search Google for your product or service. SEO Tribunal reports that there are 5.6 billion searches on Google per day and 63,000 searches per second on any given day. There are customers online right now looking for exactly what you offer - if they don't find your business via reading reviews or seeing ads, then guess who won’t get their business? A good SEO ranked website will put the eyes of your potential customers on your business.
Many businesses are making a grave mistake in their marketing and advertising strategy. If you're relying solely on social media networks, such as Facebook or Twitter for your business to grow, then it's time to re-evaluate how effective this tactic is. Sure, these platforms can provide the opportunity for increased exposure and brand awareness - however, a dedicated SEO optimised website is far more efficient at bringing traffic to your business and delivering better conversion rates than posting sporadic updates tagged onto posts written by someone else on one of the big social networks.
4. Compete With Bigger Business
Your small business may not have the funding to compete with giants of your industry but you can level the playing field by creating an attractive, responsive website. An optimized site that ranks high on search engine results will be seen at just the right time when potential customers are looking for what you offer.
To compete with the big businesses on the Internet, you have to think a step or two ahead. Their large market dominance may make them complacent and as such; they might think it’s enough to just have a strong social media presence and a website that has basic functionality when your potential customer base is changing their way of engaging with products like yours so you build a new website for your business that focuses on catering to the new trend amongst your potential customers. This change results in your business gaining new customers from one of your biggest competitors. Continue this trend of reacting quickly to your customers’ online needs and soon your business will overtake your competition.
5. Become a 24/7 Business
Your website provides an instant way to reach out to potential new clients whenever you want them, without needing rest or sleep. No matter what time of day or night they can and will visit your website. They'll get the latest updates and new products on their own accord--due to you being accessible at all times. For e-commerce companies in particular this can be hugely beneficial - not only are visitors more likely to buy something when there isn't any time constraint on their purchase but also because if someone has already realized that their previously purchased item was faulty or unsatisfactory then reaching out immediately means that all complaints will be dealt with swiftly before they get worse rather than waiting until tomorrow.
Conclusion
You have the opportunity to be different from your competitors online. You can build a unique website and show customers what sets you apart from every other company in your niche - social media channels cannot give this same experience.
A good website does much more than simply portray some aspects of an organization-in fact it's one aspect that has been shown as a key differentiator when competing against other companies within similar fields. One way businesses stand out among competitors' websites nowadays is through having aesthetically pleasing designs
The quality of your website can make or break the success and longevity of any business. A cluttered, dull design will do little to draw in potential customers; while a clean, modern interface with just enough text is more likely to inspire confidence in visitors who are looking for competent help from someone they trust. Consider how you want people seeing your company at first sight - would you rather be overlooked by them because their attention was drawn away from what makes you special?