6 reasons why your small business needs a website

As a new business owner, think about your own personal habits when planning your marketing and advertising campaigns.

You may search for ‘indian takeaway near me’ or ‘plumbers in Dartford’ when you are looking to source local goods/services. ‘Vauxhall car garages’ or ‘Chrome bathroom taps’ when looking for a specific type of product. Either way, your first instinct is to turn to Google and browse through the search results.

From your own experience, you can acknowledge just how important it is for businesses both big and small to have an online presence and for potential customers to be able to reach you, whether it be via your website, social media or a third party reviews page.

Despite budgets being tight or simply struggling to find the time, here are 6 reasons why we think your small business needs a great website:

1. Show up in local search results

As mentioned earlier, people naturally rely on search engines to find local businesses. In order to have the ability to compete with larger chains it is vital you show up in these type of search results.

If your business isn’t online and therefore doesn’t appear, it is more than likely that you are missing out on potential customers. Solely relying on WOM (word-of-mouth) and traditional advertising methods cuts you off from a huge potential market segment!

Don’t let this be the case!

2. Improve your businesses credibility

Having a website that explains why your business is valuable proves that you are legitimate and credible. For example on My School Portal’s website home page, visitors are informed straight away about what it does and why it’s valuable ‘A single and secure platform that collates and displays all student information in one place’.

You can also see from the other tabs on the page it allows the user to learn about its features and hear from it’s existing customers which also boosts it’s credibility significantly.

3. Open all hours!

Your retail location or office hours will no longer be restricted to the usual 9-5. You will be effectively open 24/7 to take inquiries and bookings as well as making sales if you are an e-commerce business. Having a website gives you the flexibility to be accessible to everyone worldwide and at any given time.

4. Showcase your products and services

The total average eCommerce spend per customer, over the course of the year is estimated to be £1,600 in the UK (Smart Insights). However, don’t think because your business isn’t e-commerce that having a website doesn’t matter! It creates two opportunities: customers are able to discover your products online and purchase them instantly OR customers discover your products online and visit your retail store to purchase them. Either way, a sale has been made!

5. Your competitors will have websites 

If customers don’t find you online, they’ll find someone else, probably one of your competitors! You snooze you lose as they say! Falling behind your competitors can have a major impact on your success especially if they have a strong online presence. Fight your corner give them a reason to choose you!

6. Have control of your own voice

Unfortunately, you cannot control everything that is written online about your business but you can positively influence the public’s perception through the content that you distribute. For example blog posts, mission statements and testimonials from customers, all of which will support a positive brand identity for your business.

For any questions or further advice regarding a website for your small business please get in touch!