Does my Business Need a Website?
A great question from small business is “Do I really need a website?”, and the short answer is yes. Here’s why.
In today’s world, we live in a very digital age. At the point within our history, consumers now expect an established website and online presence. Without those key features, some consumers may deem your company less professional, or perhaps even untrustworthy. Trust is one of the most important relationships you can make with an audience. Most people judge everything on face-value, and if you lack a common business feature like a website, people may boot your company to the side. With that being said, your company’s website will often be the first place a consumer looks at to find reviews or credentials, so you don’t want to give a consumer any reason to doubt your business. An established website and a somewhat knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can go a long way. Many companies invest in a website that utilizes SEO because of how much traffic it can direct to your website. There are so many business and companies that Google has to shuffle through in order to find what someone is searching for and with a website, they can redirect someone to you even by happy accident. With how many searches Google experiences a day, someone may be looking for your exact product or service within your area at this very second and you are missing out on that customer because you don’t have a website.
Now, you’re probably wondering – can I just make my own website? Yes, you can. There are free links online that make it possible to create a free website for your business. In regards to those free website builders, the only caveat is oftentimes your website link will have their business name in the link. For example, if I create a free website through “website.com” (not a real thing), and my business is called “fishing”, my website link could be read as “fishing.website.com” or something along those lines. If that doesn’t bother you then you have options.
Conversely, you can always hire a professional to build your website for you. Here are some pros and cons. Pro: they have more knowledge than you, they can build it faster, they know what works, they know what doesn’t work, and more importantly, you really don’t have to do much. Cons: you have to pay them. Your website is a critical part of your business and if you want a professional who is going to know exactly what to do and what is going to be effective, you always have that option as well.
In closing, a website is going to be one of the most important aspects of your business. Your website doesn’t need to be extravagant or expensive, it just needs to be there. Regardless of if you think you need a website or not – create a website! It will only benefit your business and direct traffic to your products or services.
