Small businesses constantly negotiate their way through the dilemma of whether marketing is a cost or investment. And it is true, marketing can eek away at precious cash flow for new businesses, but it’s entirely worth it (well, we’re marketers, what did you expect?!)
When it comes to websites, it can be easy to assume that because businesses didn’t have them just a few years ago that there is no need to have one now. Or because you don’t use a computer, that your potential customers don’t. But this isn’t the case.
We are now well and truly immersed in the digital age, with the current generation never living without access to the internet! It doesn’t matter if you are a one-man show or a 10,000 employee business giant, a website can bring a lot of benefits. We know that being found on Google gives us visibility, but have you ever really thought about why this is important?
- Credibility
Today, more and more people love to “google” businesses and services before they buy a product, and if you don’t have an online presence your potential customers will use competitors who do.
A professional website gives customers confidence in your brand. Being visible means that you exist, and being easy to find gives your business credibility (because Google loves you) and this can create a greater amount of trust.
- Accessibility
We operate in a global marketplace. And we operate in the here-and-now world. People want information, they want it on their phones and tablets and they want it NOW!
If you don’t have a website, you are secluding yourself to operating and answering queries within working hours from people who already know your contact details. But a website is accessible 24/7 365 days of the year and can be adapted for any platform.
- Showcasing work and testimonials
What better way for people to find out about something than straight from the horses’ mouth?
Your website allows you to dictate what your customers see, and also what your competitors see. You can also showcase previous examples of your work and provide client testimonials.
- Improved customer service
A website allows you to cost-effectively improve customer services and introduce a value-adding service via a blog, a newsletter or a FAQ page.
This allows you to easily bring another added value layer to your service and keep your customers up-to-date with your businesses news and build on relationships already established with them.
A website is an important part of a business and needs to be treated as such – just as it can create a good first impression, if not executed correctly it can create a bad one.