There are so many benefits to having a website. I want you to think about when you search for a service or a product on Google all of those searches are connected to a website.
Let's say that you need a plumber, you go to Googles search engine, look up Plumbers in Juneau Alaska and 3-4 websites of search results pop up. If you have a plumbing business and you don't have a website you're missing out on potential clients.
Will your Facebook page pop up? Will that be good enough? Maybe, but probably not. With a website you can have so much more information on there it's going to sell for you. Having your website sell for you is going to be the best marketing and online advertising tool you could invest in and should be the number one benefit to having a website. Especially right now in the digital age that we live in. If you're still not sure if you need a business website here's 10 benefits of having a website, let's dive in.
1. Your Website is a Cost-Effective Marketing Machine I make most of my money from my website. People google graphic design in Juneau or website designer and my website is one of the top websites that pop up. Just from that I can get in front of new leads especially the right leads were looking for the services and the website is essentially free marketing for me.
My website also sells for me, it tells everyone how much my packages are and what they include, what it looks like to work with me and it's the greatest marketing tool that I have for my business. Instead of feeling the pressure to post on Instagram every day or running ads, having an online presence with my website on Google makes me money.
2. You Gain Trust and Credibility With Your Customers Having a website makes you look legit. You can show your face and put up videos on there to let people know that you're a real person so they can get to know you better.
Having your email and phone number on your website as well that will let people know that they can contact you and speak to a real human to get more information. You also gain trust, credibility, and build brand awareness through putting more information about your services or products on your website. The more transparent you are with your potential customers the better response and customer loyalty you will get.
3. Your Website Works For You 24/7 You can only answer emails and take phone calls so many hours a day. But if you have a website then it's there to answer people's questions all day 24/7.
It's also nice that people can go back and read anything they want more than once so that they're really clear on what you can do for them.
Even better is if you have resources on your website then people can get a lot of value without even needing to purchase from you. I have a couple of freebies, my brand style guide template, and a free how to brand training video on my website so that if people are just curious about branding or if they don't have the funds yet to dive in then they can atleast dip their toes in the water and see what it's all about.
4. It's Convenient For Your Customers
The same reason why you don't want to be answering emails and phone calls every day is the same reason why customers probably don't want to call you or email you asking questions if they can find the answer on your website.
Especially if they're just gathering information about what's out there your website is the perfect tool and an easy way to let people know if you're right for them.
5. You Can Showcase Your Branding Which Will Help You Be Memorable and Stand Out
When you walk into a cute boutique store and there's a nice smell in the air beautiful streaks of natural light coming through and the products are presented in a really aesthetic way you're going to remember that shop and you're probably going to recommend it to others.
When you have a really nice branded website it's going to do the same thing for your business because your website is the digital storefront for your services and products.
If you brand your business strategically then you can show your personality off on your website which will make people remember you more and effectively make you more money because your website is more memorable over someone else's
6. You Can Collect People's Data
This benefit might sound a little off putting but there is so much benefit in gathering people's data. I don't mean that you're collecting peoples phone numbers or names or anything but you can keep track of who visits your website so that if you want to run Facebook ads for example you can use everyone who's landed on your website and target them in your ads. Let me be clear you don't know these people's names there's a special pixel that knows which devices have landed on your website and that is used for advertising in front of a warm audience.
I'm sure you've been on plenty of websites where you just browse through for a little bit then you end up scrolling on Facebook and you see an ad for that website that is exactly how collecting data works. And what's great about pushing ads to people who visit your website is that it's going to be a warm audience and the warmer an audience when you are pushing ads in front of them the more likely they will buy from you. Also, collecting emails on your website is going to come in handy if you ever want to start email marketing. Email marketing is actually the best return on investment when it comes to the other channels like social media marketing or paid ads. Email marketing doesn't have a lot of competition with everyone else people can choose to read your email or not and if they do choose to open it they're more likely to buy from an email than from social media.
7. You'll Have A Competitive Edge Over A Business That Only Has Social Media Can you sell on social media? Absolutely but there's no competition once people land on your website. Once people are there they can read through your services read more about you and they're really focused on your business and your values. If you do only have social media it's going to be hard to engage a customer for more than five minutes. The longer people stay on your website the better is going to be for conversions. I've mentioned this before but we live in a digital world if you don't have a website there's gonna be a lack of professionalism. We live in a world where if you want to scale your business you're going to need a website.
Your websites web design doesn't have to be 15 plus pages either, you can start off with a one page website then once you know more about your services and how you want to serve your customers start adding more pages. If been wanting a website for a long time but don't have the funds for a full website build I do have a one-page Wix website deal that's only for $800. Check out zsquaredstudio.com/websites and you can learn more about it there.
8. Learn From Analytics and Insights to Help Your Business Grow There's a lot to be learned from website data, you can see how many people are purchasing a certain service or vice versa you can see what people are not purchasing and by this insight, you can decide to remove services that people are no longer interested in or you can see what your best sellers are so that you can promote those products more. I'm sure you'll be surprised by this data because what you think your customers like is not always your best seller. I thought I would be selling a lot of full brand designs but for my clients specifically, which are mainly locals, they're more interested in logo design and don't know what brand design is. This is totally fine but I knew then to pivot to selling more logo sales and once a logo is off their checklist and their knowledge of branding and marketing grows then they can come back for a full brand design.
9. You Can Reach People Globally
The power of the Internet is that you can reach people from any part of the world. Or even if you want to sell to just the United States you go from only selling locally to selling all over the US.
10. Convenience For Your Customers
There's nothing nicer than being able to buy groceries from your computer, pizza, and of course products. That's why Amazon is so popular you're able to order anything from the convenience of your home.
If people want to call you to book a service and you have a website for them to look at then you have a higher chance of landing that customer since they already know a bit about you and your business from your website.
This is why it's so important to make sure to keep your website updated, well designed and easy to navigate so people can find what they're looking for and determine right off the bat that you can help them.
And there you have it 10 reasons why small business owners can benefit from a website. Here they are again
Your Website is a Cost-Effective Marketing Machine
You Gain Trust and Credibility With Your Customers
Your Website Works For You 24/7
It's Convenient For Your Customers
You Can Showcase Your Branding Which Will Help You Be Memorable and Stand Out
You Can Collect People's Data
You'll Have A Competitive Edge Over A Business That Only Has Social Media
Learn From Analytics and Insights to Help Your Business Grow
You Can Reach People Globally
Convenience For Your Customers
There is a time in your business when you need to level up if you want to grow and your website is definitely a great place for that growth. If you've nailed down what your products or your services are and you figured out your branding that's a great place to be to start a website.
Even if you don't have these aspects perfect your website has to start somewhere. Even me as a graphic designer the first version of my website makes me cringe I actually created it while I was still at University studying graphic design.
I have learned so much since then and the only way my business has grown tremendously was by starting somewhere. You can't grow if you don't start so take this as your sign to finally build your website.
If you're intimidated and don't know where to start I do have a couple of web templates that can help you get your feet off the ground or have a couple of done-for-you website packages just check it out on my website.
Z Squared Studio is a Brand and Web Design Studio based in Juneau, Alaska. Check out www.zsquaredstudio.com for custom brand design, Alaska logo design, or web design. Or sign up for our DIY Brand yourself Mini-Course if you're ready for a stand out, scroll stopping brand without hiring a designer.