DO I NEED A WEBSITE IN 2023?

“Do I Need A Business Website in 2023? ”

In today’s digital age, having a website for your business is crucial. A website provides your business with an online presence and makes it easier for potential customers to find you and learn about your products or services.

A website can also serve as a platform for e-commerce, allowing you to sell your products online and expand your customer base beyond your physical location. Additionally, a website can help build trust and credibility with your audience by showcasing your brand, values, and expertise.

Without a website, your business may be missing out on potential customers who are searching for products or services similar to what you offer. So, if you want to increase your visibility, reach more customers, and grow your business, it’s a good idea to consider creating a website.

Do I Need A Business Website If I Have a Social Media Page?

Having a website and having social media presence are two different things, and they serve different purposes. Advertising through social networks like Facebook has its share of benefits. Social media platforms can help you share information in real-time, engage your audience, collect customer feedback for your market research, build a larger audience, and more.

A website allows you to:

• Have more control over your online presence
• Showcase your products, services, or portfolio in a more professional and comprehensive way
• Provide a place for people to contact you or make purchases
• Create a blog or other content that can be easily shared on social media

In addition, having a website can also increase your online visibility and credibility, as it makes it easier for people to find you via search engines like Google.

While having a social media presence is important, having a website can complement and enhance your social media efforts by providing a more complete online presence for your brand or business.

websitwebReasons Not To Rely On Social Media Pages

1. CREDIBILITY CONCERNS
A business needs to demonstrate higher credibility to attract and convert leads. Unverified social media accounts cause visitors to be sceptical about doing business with you.  Many of the verified nusiness pages are also backed up by websites. A business website gives your potential customers comfort that you’re a legitimate company they can trust.

CONSUMERS DISLIKE SOCIAL MEDIA ADS

On average, people spend approximately 151 minutes on social media every day. Businesses know we are here and this brings with it an element of strong competition. Imagine competing with hundreds of local businesses to create ads and targeting a group of specific Facebook users. The target audience will come across multiple business ads when reading important posts or interacting with friends. Unfortunately, many ignore the ads. Do you?

The attention you recieve on a website is different. Visitors choose to click through to your website because the search engine has suggested you might be helpful to them. These are people who have demonstrated interest in your services or products you offer.  Therefore, once they land on your site, it is a lot easier to convert them into sales.

 TOP 10 Reasons Why Your Business Needs To Create a Website in 2023

1. IT CREATES A PROFESSIONAL IMPRESSION

Not only is your website a great way to convince clietns you’re a credible business but also a professional company.

Fraudsters  are everywhere, especially social media. It is free to set up a business user account and scammers are easily able to create fake profiles. Some even use pages with names of other people’s legitimate businesses. That’s why customers put less trust in companies hat rely solely on social media advertising.

Customers realise that a high-quality website requires some investment. You pay for a website domain, hosting, SSL certificate, template or theme, integrations, SEO, and more. They trust only professional organisations are willing to make this financial commitment.

2. BOOST YOUR BUSINESS PRESENCE ONLINE

A website allows you to invest a mix of SEO strategies that ensure your website appears higher on Google search engine results pages (SERPs). This way, new online visitors are likely to find your business.

The internet offers a mass of business opportunities, as statistics show that there are 4.9 billion online users worldwide. Over 90% of the users access the internet using their mobile devices also demsonstrating how important it is to use mobile first design processes.

3. A WEBSITE OFFERS A PLACE TO ADD SOCIAL PROOF

Providing social proof is one of the most effective ways to build trust with your target audience. Reviews remain the most valuable element of social proof.

Approximately 88% of customers read online reviews before doing business with a local company. That shows you how much people trust feedback from previous clients, even if they are strangers!

Instead of counting on third-party review sites like TrustPilot and Reviews, you can collect customer testimonials and strategically display them on your own website.

4. YOUR WEBSITE IS THE BEST CUSTOMER DESTINATION

Successful businesses will have many different marketing channels. However, these channels nearly always send potential buyers to one destination — a website where they take action.

A prospect will run into an exciting ad whilst scrolling their Facebook news feed. They click on it and expect to be redirected to your website to learn more about your business.  They are highly likely to lose interest and end that journey if they discover you don’t have a business website.

Your website is your online shop. People visit it to make inquiries and leave without necessarily making a purchase. Regardless, they’ll know you exist and where to find you next time, may have left their contact details and they might need your products or services in the future.

5. LOCAL MARKETS DEMAND A WEBSITE

Perhaps you don’t have a functional website because you are unaware of how many qualified leads you’re losing. A website optimised for local searches can significantly boost your revenue and grow your business. This is because the local people finding your business on Google have a high intent to purchase.

6. WEBSITES OFFER A BETTER RETURN ON INVESTMENT

You will have read posts created several years ago that are still ranking high on the SERPs. That is because old pages continue to generate valuable leads for ther relevant business.

Social media ads and campaigns have an expiry date. The advertisements will only be visible to your target audience during the duration of the ad run.

7. BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE

When a customer lands on a website, they find the most important info without having to reach out to anyone – your business description, hours of work, location, contact number etc.)

A website helps reduce the number of calls your staff handle, which leads to better productivity. When there are too many calls coming in some go unanswered. This can make some of your potential customers frustrated and go elsewhere.

Making all the essential information available on a website absoloutly improves the user experience.

8. SETTING UP A WEBSITE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE

One of the reasons many businesses hesitate to invest in a website is due to cost concerns. However, you don’t need to break the bank to create a good looking and functional website that attracts customers.With a little research, you’ll certainly find affordable web design and hosting packages.

You can try cheap website builders like Wix, which require no coding knowledge. However, your website might look similar to several others out there already. If you want a site unique to your business, working with a web designer is worth the effort.

It is also possible to manage your own site. It is fairly easy with content management systems like CMS Hub and WordPress.

9. COMPETITIVE REQUIREMENT

Having a business website really is essential to at least stay on a par competitively. Many small business owners are scared of competing with big brands for organic results thinking they have no chance. Google does not measure the size of a company or its resources. Google’s algorithms will favour any well optimised website with high quality and relevant content. Small business websites can outrank large companies on the SERPs!

10. SELL EVEN WHEN CLOSED!

COVID-19 caused great upset amongst many industries, forcing more customers to order products online.  eCommerce sales exploded, and ever since have followed an upward trend.

Worldwide sales in the eCommerce industry are expected to reach $8.1 trillion by 2026. Only businesses with a digital presence, especially websites, are likely to benefit from this projected growth.

Even if you don’t own a typical eCommerce business, a website could still prove beneficial, especially when customers can’t access your physical store. They can make orders online, and your business can take care of order fulfilment.

If you have any questions about SEO, web design or digital marketing then follow The Web Gym on Facebook, or LinkedIn and say hello! We are based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire and offer web design, SEO and marketing services throught the UK