What Are The Benefits Of Having A Website For Business?
Are you one of the 49% of small business owners without a website? Do you need convincing that your business could benefit from a website at all? Or do you already believe that your business could benefit from a website but you want to learn more about how it can do so? You're in the right place.
Let’s get this out of the way, your business needs a website. There are far too many benefits to having a website for your business than is reasonable to ignore. So that’s it, end of article. Right? Well, I understand if you need a little more information on the exact ways a website can help your business. Here’s a quick list of 4 of the main benefits for your business along with some explanations, statistics and examples.
Benefit Of A Business Website #1:
You Get More And Better Customers.
A website is one of the most cost effective forms of advertising and marketing. It helps you to reach, convert, and directly connect with potential customers. Many potential customers may not even know that you or your business exist if you do not have a website. In a modern digital world, search engine results play a large role in the growth and success of companies. Trying to rank highly via SEO without your own website isn’t impossible but it does make it infinitely harder. Why would you put that burden on yourself?
A business website is the perfect place to showcase your products and/or services. Acting as the modern equivalent of a brochure, it lets you sell yourself to your customer, tell them how you stand out and why they need you to help them instead of someone else.
Through careful branding and design, it can help your customers to understand how great of a fit your shop is for them. For example, a restaurant can show that they offer dishes that fit certain dietary restrictions or a jazz bar can show their style and vibe through their website in ways that can’t be done elsewhere on the internet. And if your customers already know what to expect before they come in, they’re more likely to enjoy themselves while they're there.
Benefit Of A Business Website #2:
You Expand Your Service Area.
If your business sells products that could be delivered, a website instantly widens your service area from only nearby towns to nationwide or even globally via ecommerce. That’s tapping into a customer base completely unavailable to you otherwise. Ecommerce sales continue to grow. In 2020 in the US alone, Ecommerce sales revenue sat at just over 684 billion US dollars. If you want some of that money, you'll need to widen your net to catch more fish.
Even if you don’t want to or don’t feel like you can sell your product or service over the internet, most consumers research products online before going into a brick and mortar store to buy them, so you could still use this form of marketing to pull customers into your store or office from further away than you would typically reach with other forms of marketing.
Benefit Of A Business Website #3:
You Gain An Advantage Over Your Competition.
93% of customers research online before buying products or services and yet, as mentioned, only 51% of businesses have websites. By having a website made, you tap into a marketing stream that much of your competition does not have access to.
Conversely, if you do not have a website and your competitors do, you are at a disadvantage. Be assured, if your potential customers can’t find you online… they’ll find someone else. Nowadays, almost everyone uses the internet to gather information, even about local businesses. You need to make sure that you stand out from the competition - or the very least that you appear next to them at all!
Benefit Of A Business Website #4:
It Builds Your Credibility.
Social media marketing is great, but it has its limitations. On Facebook or Instagram, you only have so much control over the branding of your page. No matter which social media platform you use, their branding will be more prominent than yours. Your page will be on their domain, their logo will be in a more prominent location than yours and their colors will define the feel of the site.
Having a professionally made website for your business makes your business seem legitimate, professional, and serious. It shows that you care about your business and that you’re willing to invest in it. People expect legitimate businesses to have websites, just like they expect legitimate businesses to have a physical location. A recent survey found that 84% of people think a website makes a business more credible than one that only has social media pages.
Having your own domain also means that you can send emails with a custom email address such as “josiah@umbrellaavenue.com”. This also comes off as much more serious and professional in any interactions you have with your customers than a personal email address.
What Are The Benefits Of Having A Website For Business?
The Verdict.
There’s really little question about the benefit of a website for a business. Having your own website is practically essential for growth through marketing, expanding service area and revenue streams, standing out among your competitors and flat out professionalism.
Hopefully you’re pumped to get started enjoying the benefits of a website for your business. It’s one of the best decisions you can make for future growth and development. It’s an investment that, if done well, always finds great returns. It’s not uncommon for businesses to increase their sales by 100% or even 1000% after launching a website.
If you need some more information on how to build a website, get in touch with us about web design. We can help you figure out if using a site builder on your own or hiring a strategist and designer for a custom designed site suits your needs better at this time. Also, whether you have us build you a site or not, be sure to check out this other article we wrote on 10 Things Every Small Business Website Needs for 10 free tips on building a website for your business that won’t just look pretty, but actually provide these benefits of having a website for business.
