If you’re a small business that doesn’t directly deal with internet sales or working in the technology field, you may be wondering if you really need a website. The simple answer is yes, you do. But why is having a website so important if you’re not selling something over it? There are many reasons, but let’s focus on three: Credibility, Organic Traffic, and Digital Marketing.
Credibility
First and foremost, the main reason to have a website is credibility. These days, when someone with a smart phone is trying to find a company, one of the first things they will do is search for a website. I know I do this. I want to know something about the company before I take my time driving there or calling them. Let’s say I’m looking for a contractor for some work on my home. I do a quick google search and two contractors come up. One of the contractors has a website with lots of pictures of his work, testimonials from clients, and descriptions of the types of work he does. Another contractor doesn’t have a website. Which contractor do you think I’m more likely to call? The website has already given more credibility to the first contractor before I even talked to either of them.
Without a website, people may question your legitimacy as a business.
Kaplan, Kasey,”Why Every Business Needs a Website”, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/02/03/why-every-business-needs-a-website/
Organic Traffic
The second main reason was actually embedded in my example above. How did I even find out about the contractors? I did a Google search. While you can show up in search results without a webpage, search engines will rank entries with a website higher than ones without. This means by having a website, you are going to be more likely be get discovered by a larger number of potential clients. This traffic to your website that wasn’t the result of any specific advertising you did is called organic traffic.
Organic traffic converts at ten to thirteen times that of paid traffic. Clearly, when someone finds you, your product or your service organically, there’s far more motivation to purchase. Why? Because everyone knows that if Google‘s vouched for you, then whatever it is that you’re selling, must be good.
Adams, R.L., “27 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website”, Entrepreneur, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/308025
Digital Marketing
In addition to organic traffic, now that you have a website you can also do more targeted digital advertising and have a place to send that traffic. You can advertise on social media, industry related sites and blogs, and through paid ads on search engines. All of those ads can direct people to your website where they can get even more information about you and your company without relying on them to pick up the phone and call you when seeing the ad.
More than 4 billion people use the internet. If you want to build your business brand, reach prospective customers, and make more sales, you can no longer ignore digital advertising.
Emma, Linda, “The Advantages & Disadvantages of Advertising on the Internet”, Chron, https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-advertising-internet-4029.html
