1.
YOUR BUSINESS WILL GAIN CREDIBILITY
More
and more people are searching online for things they want, for solutions to
their problems, to compare prices, or just to get some information about a
store, restaurant or business before they purchase from them. If you don’t have
a website, potential customers will go to your competitors who do, especially
if you are a home-based business without a bricks-and-mortar address.
Having a website will not only provide the information they are looking for,
but it will give your business credibility. It says, I am here, I mean
business, and I am in it for the long haul.
Your business will gain so much more credibility by having a professional
website designer help you design and build your website.
With careful planning, designed responsively and with your customers’ needs in
mind, your website will provide a professional image and give potential
customers a great experience when they visit, whether it’s on their computer,
their tablet or their mobile phone.
2.
IT SAVES YOU MONEY IN THE LONG TERM
As a
business owner, especially one that is just starting out, you’re probably thinking
you can’t afford a professional website. But you really can’t afford NOT to.
Although the cost of designing a website varies depending on your needs, once
it’s up and running, a professional website is worth the initial investment,
especially if built using WordPress, which enables you to add and change your
own content regularly, saving you money in updates.
Compared with the cost of traditional means of advertising, such as newspaper
ads, radio commercials, promotional materials and even networking events that
often include the cost of a meal or trade tables, when you consider the
potential market you can reach with a website, it is a very cost effective way
to promote your business long term.
Even if your skill levels are slim to none and you need to continually pay your
website designer/developer to maintain and update your website for you, the
upkeep costs are still lower than ongoing traditional marketing, and the
investment is certainly worth the number of potential customers that will find your
business online each year.
When it comes to comparing the cost of a professional website with a freebie
D.I.Y. website, unless you are fairly skilled, your website will cost you in
time and effort that could be better spent elsewhere in your business. Not only
that, but if it’s not professional, or can’t be found in a Google search, you
will lose customers and that will also cost you dearly.
Saving money is definitely a great reason why your business needs a
professional website, but there are several more reasons.
3.
CUSTOMERS CAN BE KEPT INFORMED
In
its most basic form, think of a website as being an online brochure or
catalogue that can be updated at any time. It is much easier and quicker to
update information about your products and services on your website than it is
in a print brochure or catalogue.
A website is an effective way of introducing your customers to new services,
letting them know about new products, announcing upcoming events and special
promotions.
You
can also provide added value by posting tips, resources and other information
through a blog on your website. Unlike print ads, newspaper articles and
flyers, which quickly become outdated, your website can provide current
information and news. And if you discover a mistake after you publish a page or
post, it is a quick fix.
A website can be so much more than just an online brochure or catalogue though.
Now we have YouTube videos, Podcasts, Webinars, eBooks and other online media
to showcase your skills, expertise and products, provide online classes,
courses and workshops. Not to mention social media integration which enables
you to share information on your website across numerous other channels and
reach an even wider audience.
4.
A WEBSITE IS ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE
Unlike
you bricks-and-mortar location, which is only open a few hours a day, a website
is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can provide both regular and
prospective customers the convenience of reviewing your products and services
when your store or office is closed.
Not only that, with so many interactive features and add-ons available,
visitors to your website can contact you, sign up for your courses, schedule
appointments and even purchase directly through your website even when you’re
away from your desk or after closing.
With
today’s busy lifestyles, this is a great selling point when making a purchase
decision.
5.
A WEBSITE ENABLES YOU TO TARGET A WIDER AUDIENCE
Websites
are accessible from anywhere in the world provided there is an internet
connection. Since more and more people have access to the internet, even in
remote locations, you can target a much wider audience if your business has a
website.
Whether you offer products or services or you are business or consumer based,
your website provides you with an alternative location to sell. As a retailer,
an eCommerce website is a great place to sell your products to a wider market.
Think of all the people who can’t get to your bricks and mortar store that you
could sell your products to.
Even service-based businesses can offer their services globally through a
website. Now that we have so many affordable ways to communicate with people,
we can do business with anyone, anywhere, any time. A website makes it so much
easier to attract clients from a global market.
6.
IT PROVIDES A MEDIUM TO SHOWCASE YOUR WORK
No
matter what type of business you’re in, a website is a great place to showcase
your work or demonstrate your skills. By including a portfolio, image gallery
or videos, as well as testimonials about your work, you can demonstrate what
makes your company unique.
Fourteen years ago there was no Pinterest, twitter, facebook or Instagram. Now 14
years later, a lot of people are using these social media channels to showcase
their work. But is your target audience on Pinterest, twitter, facebook or
Instagram?
On Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and other social media channels, the quality
of your photos or graphics is compromised and the size may be substantially
reduced. Not only that but Facebook and other social media channels control how
people interact with them and even WHO can see them.
If you have a website, your portfolio can be viewed by everyone anywhere and
you are in control of what people see, the quality and size of your photos, and
how people interact with those photos.
Not only that, but did you know, in most cases, once you post your work on
these social media channels you no longer own the rights to those photos and
they could be sold to use in those sponsored ads you see throughout your
timeline?
7.
A WEBSITE SAVES YOU TIME
I
touched on this point in number 2. Time is money, so they are often linked
together. Saving time is another great reason why your business needs a
professional website.
Time is an important commodity in our ever-increasing fast paced world even if
you don’t attach a monetary value to it. Most people these days don’t have
enough time for leisure, pleasure, family or healthy activities. Having a
professionally designed website saves you time both in the short and long term.
By providing information to your customers online, you can save a vast amount
of valuable time that you would otherwise spend communicating to your
prospects.
Talking to customers on the phone, in messenger or emails, face-to-face at
meetings, networking events or trade shows, it all takes time. Creating flyers,
brochures and other promotional material takes time – time to plan, research,
communicate to your designer, printer and so on. Not to mention the time needed
to distribute your marketing material.
With a website, you can save time by providing information about your products
and services in various online formats—graphics, video, eBooks, flip books— or
as text right on the page—no distribution required. Once your website is up and
running, it is available to your customers indefinitely, saving you time having
to communicate the same message over and over again to different people.
8. A WEBSITE CAN IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE
A website is a great way to provide value added service to your customers and clients,
and is a great way to keep them coming back to your when they need your
products or services.
No matter what products/services you sell, you can share tips to your customers
on how to use or care for the products they’ve purchased from you. If it’s
compression garments, you can provide tips on how to wear their garments.
If you offer a service, such as interior decorating, you can provide your
clients valuable advice to help them organise their home or how to do some DIY
hacks at for home decoration. Or if you’re in event planning, you could give
advice on how to choose the right budget for specific number of guests.
By including a FAQ page or a resources section, you can regularly add articles
or upload newsletters to answer all your customers’ questions you can keep them
better informed and up-to-date.
9. YOU OWN AND CONTROL YOUR WEBSITE
Even
if you have a big social media presence, another reason, and probably
the most important reason why your business needs a professional website, is so
that you actually own or at least pay rent for your online space.
There are lots of free or low-cost ways to gain a web presence or claim your online
space, but in most cases, you don’t own your online home, office or store and,
even worse, you have little to no control over all that’s contained in your
online space. With a professional website, you do.
Social media is a great way to bring traffic to your website and it’s a great
way to share content from your website. However, relying
solely on social media to attract customers or clients is not only preventing
several prospects from doing business with you, but you do not own your stuff
and you cannot control what happens with it. The stuff you’ve uploaded to your
favourite social media channel could disappear at any moment without prior
warning when they pull the plug for whatever reason and you could lose it all
forever.
The same is true for a freebie website. When you decide it’s time to move on,
you can’t always take your website content with you (at least not easily) and
you will most likely need to start from scratch.
With a professional website, one that is self-hosted, granted you are renting
space for your web address, but you own everything contained within your online
space. If ever you want or feel the need to move to a different web-host, you
can take everything with you (provided you have backups and/or do so before
your account expires).
I’ve always maintained the importance of having a web presence that you own,
and this is definitely a valid point to consider when determining whether your
business needs a professional website or not.
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