If your business started out small, maybe just a local word of mouth or using a third party website like eBay or Etsy, perhaps you haven’t invested time and effort into your web presence. That’s a mistake.
A website and a web presence are essential if you really want to grow your business, earn more customers and ultimate make more money.
Here are 10 different reasons investing in a website could be the best move you’ll ever make:
1 – Your competition has one
If your competition is online and you’re not, then you are losing out on sales that could have been yours simply because your competition has made themselves more accessible.
A high quality and attractive website design will boost traffic to your business. If you are selling via a third party, there’s no harm in continuing to use their site and also having a website of your own. Selling via your own website usually works out cheaper in the long run as third-party sites often charge fairly steep fees. Just be sure to keep the domain name and website styling on brand, you want people to know it’s your business and not an imposter or competitor.
Additionally, if you ever decide to sell your business, having a great website will get you a higher price for it.
2 – People can’t find you online
If a customer wants to find out about your business, chances are high that they will search for you online. If you do not have a website for them to view, they will certainly find your competitors’ websites.
To help you put this into perspective, would you be able to operate your business without having a phone number your customers can call? Or an Email address where they can reach you?
3 – Your business isn’t open 24/7
When you invest in a website your customers will be able to access your business 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
There are systems and software you can put in place to completely automate the online aspects of customer service and fulfillment, which is another hidden benefit of investing in a website.
Even if you have the kind of business that is only open certain hours of the day, you still want your customers to be able to find you on the web.
4 – Websites make it easy to advertise
A website is free advertising for you and helps you get in front of your target audience where they’re at – online.
Your customers can easily share the link to your site with their friends and family, thus spreading the word about your business.
If you have a blog for the business, this is even better. You can educate your consumer about your products or services and keep engaging with them to build customer loyalty.
5 – You can build your brand
It doesn’t matter if your business is new, old, small or large, your ultimate goal should be to make your customers aware of who you are and what you do.
A good branding campaign on your website can help you appear larger than you are and create social proof that prospects want to see.
Without a website, you are damaging your business’ reputation because consumers expect every business to have a website. When a business doesn’t have one, the consumer forms a much lower opinion of the business.
6 – You can grow your bottom line
It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, when you start selling it online your bottom line will grow.
Having a high-quality website will make your business more valuable because you can present your services or products in a new way that isn’t reliant on you or your associates handling the service and fulfillment.
7 – Customers give you new insights
Investing in your website is a great way for you to learn more about your existing customers and create new products or services that are tailored to their specific needs.
The information you can gain from your customers will help you understand them better, which converts into even higher revenue as you adapt to serve them better.
8 – You can reach new markets
You’ll have an easier time identifying new markets that you may not have thought about when you originally started your business.
You can tap into the potential that having access to millions of new customers will give you. The internet breaks down the local barriers and lets you become a global entity.
9 – You can generate passive income
Investing in your website is like having a sales team working for you 24/7. It allows your customers to place orders when your physical business isn’t even open.
You’ll be able to cut out the sales process and make it easier for both you and your customers.
Your website will be the new catalog for your business and can streamline the process of ordering and fulfillment.
10 – You improve communications with your customers
Your website will allow you to create pages that provide answers to the most commonly asked questions about your products or services. This could drastically cut your customer service costs.
You can also create new channels for communication, like a live chat or a contact form, so it’s easier for your customers to get in touch with you when they need to.
Hopefully, by now, you can see why having a website is so important for your business. It will help your business grow and increase its value going into the future.
Contributed by: Jock Purtle