Introduction:
So you’ve made it this far in business without a website, so you’re asking the question: “do I even need a website?” It’s a fair question to ask yourself if you’ve already seen some success in your business.
The surprising answer is that now is the most important time to get a website. Just like the internet, the benefits of having your own website increase year over year.
Need a reason to get a website? Here are 7:
1. A Website Increases Makes Your Business Appear More Professional
A professionally designed website is a great way to make your business look more established and professional. It also helps you to establish credibility and trust with potential customers because they get to read client testimonials and see the work you’ve done via videos and images.
Consumers prefer to make a purchase from a company with a website rather than one without one, because they feel as if they are buying from a more trustworthy brand. In fact, 92% of consumers prefer to get information from a business’ website instead of their social media page.
2. Websites Increase Your Social Media Exposure
58% of consumers said they were more likely to visit a business on Facebook if they could get there by using a custom domain name. Your website can generate more traffic to your social media by making it easy for website visitors to navigate to your profiles. Adding clickable, hyperlinked buttons with logos of the social media platforms your business uses makes it easy for website visitors to land on your social media.
It’s important that your brand voice and image is consistent across all forms of social media and your website. Creating a consistency in your branding further increases the credibility and professionalism of your business.
As a business owner, you want as much as exposure of your social media pages as possible. Linking your social media to your website in an effective way allows you to turn consumers searching Google for your products and services into your social media audience.
So how do you get traffic from Google? Your website helps you do that too!
3. Websites Increase Your Exposure in Google Searches
By leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics, you can increase your visibility in Google searches. Today, both locals and visitors of a city are searching for products and services on their phones via a Google search. Does these searches look familiar?:
“Restaurants near me”
“Photographer near me”
“Landscaper near me”
“Snow removal near me”
They probably do, and that’s because 91% of consumers use the internet to look for local goods or services. Businesses that leverage the most searched keywords across their website are more likely to rank higher in these Google searches.
So how do you know which keywords your customers are searching for? Luckily, tools like SEMRush do the heavy lifting by helping businesses uncover millions of local and national keywords that your customers are searching. By using the words that your customers are searching, your business will appear as more relevant to your target audience’s searches.
SEO is relatively complex, and there are lot of tactics that you can use to increase exposure. You can learn more SEO tips here.
4. Owning a Domain Allows You to Have a Branded Email Address
When you own a domain such as, thethompsonmarketing.com, you can also create a branded email address (ex. josh@thethompsonmarketing.com). 74% of consumers would trust a company-branded email address more so than a free email address. This allows you to take better advantage of email marketing campaigns. A branded email address further increases your credibility and makes your business appear more professional.
5. A Website Allows You to Showcase Your Products or Services
A website is the perfect way for a business or freelancer to show off their work. Customers can see all of the services that are offered and get an idea of what they can hire you for. It also allows them to see the quality of work that is put into your product or service, which in turn helps build trust with potential clients.
It’s important that your website is easy to navigate and attractive with clear images and content, so that any customer who visits will want to stay on the site for as long as possible.
Using high-quality visuals such as a portfolio or a gallery is a great way to grab the attention of potential customers.
6. You Can Highlight Client Testimonials
Another great way to built trust and credibility with potential customers is to highlight testimonials you’ve received from current or previous clients. With a website, your potential customers get to see visuals of the work you provide along with proof from your customers that you provide quality services or products. The odds of them converting to a customer become much higher when you provide that much proof of your quality of work.
As more people review your business, there will be a longer list of options to chose from when adding testimonials to your website. A website allows you to choose the best of your reviews to highlight, regardless of when they were posted.
7. Getting a Personalized Website is Easy and Affordable
It’s no longer scary, intimidating, or expensive for small businesses to set-up a website. There are many agencies, such as The Thompson Marketing, that work with you to create a personalized and branded website where you can tell your story and promote your business. Agencies take care of the design, development, hosting, and maintenance of your website. They also perform keyword and market research to ensure your website is being shown to your target audience and ranking highly in Google searches.
If you are interested in exploring how an agency can help your business, feel free to get in touch by clicking Get Started in the top right.
Conclusion:
There are many benefits to having a website as a small business. Websites help small businesses build credibility and appear more professional and established. They also help generate more traffic to your social media, rank higher on relevant Google searches, and showcase your work and testimonials.
If you’re still wondering whether or not a website makes sense for your business, feel free to reach out for a free consultation!