Are you a small business owner or entrepreneur? Then you really must build a website, not just any website, but a dynamic and engaging one. It’s no stretch to say your business will not reach its full potential without one in this day and age.
Nonetheless, Small Business Trends quotes a report claiming 28% of U.S. small businesses have no website presence at all, and a surprising 42% say a website is unimportant. In addition to this, an amazing 74% have no e-commerce options at all for their business.
Now, there may be an isolated business making a living in a very local situation without a website. Perhaps, the business can meet its goals banking on word of mouth traffic only. However, considering 85% of people search for a business online and 97% of people check reviews on the internet, your business needs too have a presence there.
1. Reach more people at low cost
The internet offers people access to your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People can find you from nearby or a world away. You can still reach your target market whether it’s in town or a continent away. And, you benefit from putting your product or service on everyone’s smartphone, the new generation of shoppers.
If you have a product to sell, your site should engage browsers with a desirable product inventory. If you have a service to offer, you need a place to strengthen your credibility and authority. Either way, you have maximized your reach without the cost of multi-channel advertising just by having a solid presence on the web with your business website.
2. Solidify your reputation online
A website is a must for establishing, strengthening, and communicating your business reputation. Having a website provides credibility. You exist, you have a web presence, you are professional. Whether you’re a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, your market wants expertise and to know the company they are dealing with is reputable.
With blogs, articles, and links to other valuable information, you can affirm your skill and experience. If you include testimonials and invite contributions, you confirm what you can do and why others seek your business strengths.
3. Understanding your market
Website analytics report the traffic that visits your website. But with a deep dive into those same analytics, you can identify the behavior of your visitors. If you want to differentiate the lookers from the bookers, you will find data on the time of day visitors prefer, how long they stay on your website, what pages they prefer, how they navigate your site, and more.
The more you can tell about where your visitors are coming from and how they spend, the more prepared you are to develop products and services for their interests. The more demographic data you can discern about their demographics and purchasing preference, the faster you can adapt to changes in your target market.
4. Budget for the future
Small businesses don’t have much money to spend. It’s in their nature to start slow and watch their cash flow. For new business owners, time is another major cost. So, the idea of committing a large spend to a business website can be a daunting challenge.
However, the reality is that new businesses can have a strong website with websitebuilders. With little technical experience or know-how, they can get you up and running with an effective online presence you can pretty much able to run itself. Getting started with a web presence is an effective way to plan for the future by increasing your presence to thousands more that can find your business. Start small and then look to scale later.
The world of digital decisions and global access mandates you understand that the public expects to deal with you online today. They look there first and trust what they find. USA Today asserts, “businesses that have a web presence perform better than those that don’t. It seems that in this day and age, even the smallest of businesses could benefit from websites.” So, you must make that move if you haven’t so far.
