Unless you’re a small business owner who is not interested in growing your company and expanding and reaching new customers, you need to have a website design.
Having a business website or e-commerce store is now easier than ever: Your online store is not restricted to business hours, and it ’s also one of the best means of free advertising for your small business.
Having a small Leicestershire business website isn’t just about selling your goods and showcasing your services — it’s also about providing something of value to a potential customer and giving them the information they are looking for.
Still not sure how having a website will help your business stand out and grow?
Here are my ten reasons why every business needs a website:
1. Your customers expect it
This is number one on the list as it’s the most important, Everyone knows when they are looking for a business they search for it online. 9 out of 10 people expect to find a business online.
By not having a website and an online profile customers may not trust your company and may go elsewhere.
2. It shows you are real
Ninety per cent of customers claim that online reviews influence their buying decisions but also seeing a business online and seeing photos helps ease their minds on helping them trust you.
You could always rely on FourSquare, Yelp, and other review sites to host reviews for your brand, but you can kill two birds with one stone on your own website.
Since potential customers and buyers are already looking for you online, start including customer testimonials on your site, this is a great way to impress potential buyers.
3. You control everything
While you can not help what people might say on social media channels, you can influence public perception by creating your own story via a business website.
A company blog helps business owners get their message, mission, and personality in front of their target audience faster than print ads or snail mail brochures.
Plus, social icons linking to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other networking platforms make sharing your content easier for your visitors who like what they see.
4. Look professional or lose out to competition
When first starting out with your small business money can be tight but your website is not somewhere you want to cut corners and turn to free website building platforms.
By having a good looking website this can help turn visitors into customers.
5. You don’t need extensive technical skills
I build all websites on WordPress for the simple reason it’s the best. The reason why 60% of all websites are built on WordPress is the fact it’s easy to manage and simple to build a professional website that Google loves!
6. Your competitors all have company websites
Generally, all customers start a buying journey with an online search whether its a recommendation from a previous customer or something on social media and when they can’t find you what do they do next? They will go to the competition!
Helping customers find you online should be made as simple as possible as people do not look in phone books or ring phone directories.
Studies show that once a consumer has an idea of what they need or want, they start researching, and 72 per cent of them go online to find educational material, reviews, and testimonials, according to a recent report.
So if you’re not staying competitive with your competition, you’re giving shoppers a reason to buy from another business.
7. Never put up the ‘closed for business’ sign again
Nobody wants to work at 3 a.m, but some people like to shop then. Having a business website or e-commerce store means that you can sell products all the time — you’re simply not restricted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m or even a single location you can start selling UK wide or even Worldwide!
An online store can mean a dramatic boost in sales, especially when you factor in additional customers who are not restricted by geography. Your online presence also supports marketing campaigns, customer service, client relationship building, brand recognition, and almost every other element of the revenue stream.
Combining your website with marketing tools, like email marketing, helps you reach new customers and generate repeat business.
8. You’ll show up in Google search results
Consider this: 81 per cent of consumers performs online research before making a purchase. That means they go to Google and type in one or more keywords, like “Italian restaurant” or, if they know what they want, “company name Italian Restaurant Leicester”
If you don’t have a website for your business, the chances of showing up on the search engine results page (SERP) are zero. But if you have a site, you can optimize it for search engines, thereby increasing your chances of appearing at the top of Google’s results and getting more visibility with potential customers.
Long-tail keywords, meta descriptions, and titles are just some of the things you can customize on your site to improve your search engine optimization (SEO). I know some of this may seem like you don’t know this information but its simple and a quick search engine training day can help you.
9. Create a resource centre for your staff.
In addition to helping customers, your business website can also benefit your own employees.
By creating a special login for your staff they can have their own profiles where they can find forms to fill in, book a holiday, see staff rotas and many more options available to you.
10. Showcase your products and services.
Not only can you display your products or outline your services in detail with beautiful images, but you can provide short video tutorials or downloadable PDF instructions to give hesitant customers no reason to go elsewhere to purchase.
Need help setting up a website for your business?
If you’re reading these 10 points on why your small Leicestershire business needs a website then contact me now and we can start making all these happen!
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