I believe that you will agree with this:
Having a website for your business is no more a choice, but it has become a must-have thing (you may even call it a necessary evil if you are not a techie and you feel forced to have a website) for all businesses whether they sell products/services online or offline.
As a matter of fact:
The Importance of a website is so certain that I would say that even if you do not have an online business or a business that has to do anything with the internet, you must have a website and this is what this blog post is all about.
In this blog post:
I am going to unveil the undeniable and making sense answers to the questions: “what is the importance of having a website for small business?”, “How important is a website for a business?” “Why your business needs a website in 2019?” & “what is the importance of a website in digital marketing?”.
Here you go:
1. Importance of a Website for Digital Marketing of a Local Business
Well:
This one is for those who’d always say, “But I sell donuts, why do I need a website?”
The answer is, “You need a website because people will Google the “best donuts” in their area and if you do not have a website, you will lose a significant number of local customers.”
As per statistics, over 60% of internet users use it through their smartphones and from the nearest hospital to the shopping mall to diners, they Google them all.
“83 percent of consumers plan to conduct mobile commerce in the next 12 months”:
Likewise, Google My Business is a service offered by Google through which you optimize your website/business for local searches, and people in your vicinity or in all the areas where your branches exist start seeing your outlet’s address, phone number, website, and reviews.
Also:
On top of these details, there is a map that shows where exactly you do your business.
This is exactly what you need. If out of every 100 people in your area, 80 use the internet, it means that roughly 50 of those 80 use it on their cell phones, and if you do not have an online presence, they will not buy from you.
Now think about it and tell me if you are willing to lose 50 out of every 100 prospects only because your business is not optimized for Google My Business.
If you want to learn how to optimize Google My Business, check out this Guide by Neil Patel.
2. Importance of a Website for Local SEO
Yes, I know:
Technically speaking Google My Business is a part of local SEO, but since it is too important and yet there is a lot more to local SEO, I decided to talk about both of them separately.
So you must be wondering what is Local SEO apart from Google My Business, and why I need a website for Local SEO.
Well:
You must have heard of Yellow Pages Yelp and other forums like this. These forums are the directories of businesses in a particular area.
For example, if you want people in Paramus, New Jersey to find out about your business and its exact location in Paramus, what you will do is register your business (with its website) on Yellow Pages Yelp, or other local directories such as NJ Business Directory.
Also:
Local SEO includes tactics that an SEO expert tries to make sure that his client’s business appears in Google search for their business in their area.
Now you must be thinking why a website is needed for all this. Well, for starters, people who find you online want to know about you – online.
A website with details of your products or services etc. will not only educate your clients about you but also play a vital role in increasing your sales.
For local SEO, you need a website because Google ranks web pages, not businesses. It is just as simple as this. Except you decide that in an age where people Google before they dine or before they buy anything, you want to go down with zero presence online.
3. It helps to Establish a Relationship with your Clients
Tell you what:
Businesses that do not go beyond selling and do not establish a relationship between themselves and their clients always lose the race to the companies that build a better relationship with their customers.
What could it be? It can be a mutual set of skills or hobbies and workshops around them! It can also be educating the clients and customers about the product or service.
And how can you do it best but with a website? The textual, visual, or audio-visual content on a website can educate your clients and let them know that you are the authority on the subject matter.
Take Neil Patel for an example of this or Woodward or many like them; they are masters of digital marketing and search engine optimization, but their websites do not only yap about what they do and why people should acquire their services, but their websites provide a great deal of education on the subject matter.
This leads to an ever-growing trust in their expertise, which then leads to conversions. Do, you still wonder what is the purpose of a website? If yes, then keep reading.
4. Importance of a Website for Sales
Everyone wants to make more money than what they’re making today. It is a matter of fact. Well:
If you have a business, online or offline, but you do not have a website so far, you can make more money by simply having a website.
How?
Let me explain. Websites are what you need to rock on Google My Business and to gather a big and then huge crowd via Google and other search engines.
You must have watched that thrilling Hollywood flick on Google Internship. Yes, The Internship!
Do you remember what Billy McMahan said to the owner of the pizza joint? “Everyone’s searching for something, and they’re searching for you …”
Yes. Your customers are searching for you, and you are missing out on them by not having a website.
Your website boosts your conversions and profits because:
- It can educate your customers and establish your authority.
- A website helps you appear in local SEO searches.
- The site also helps you look better and more authentic in Google My Business.
- Content and backlinks of a website help you appear in international and local searches, and thus, more and more clients find you.
- The site has all the educational and conversion-oriented content that you need to impress and convert a lead.
- It has your contact information and address and everything that makes you look like a real and big business.
5. Importance of a website for Digital Marketing
Get this:
We’re not living in pre-2000 anymore. And the world that we’re living in has gone digital long before 2000.
Without going digital and getting your hands dirty in digital marketing and presence practices, you cannot spread the word about your brand just as effectively as you can with a website.
Think about it:
You have your business Facebook page, and perhaps a LinkedIn page and pages on one or two more social media handles just to do some marketing, but you have not laid down the foundation.
Your business website.
The benefits of having a business website are unlimited, and your social media handles are useless if you cannot channel that traffic to a website from where they will get more information, and then they will buy.
So:
You need a website that will work for you, just like the US President’s nominated campaign office works for his campaign.
Likewise:
A significant part of online marketing (apart from Facebook or Google ads) is email marketing. For starters, you cannot just launch an email marketing campaign with your Gmail or other webmail address.
Words cannot merely explain how unauthentic, unprofessional, and casual a marketing email is sent to one from a webmail address.
You need your personalized and custom email address. So if your domain is www.imfinallysellingthosehotdonuts.com, the email address, with which you will send and reply to business emails will be [email protected]
Now that’s the minimum that you need for prospects to take you seriously.
PPC ads are an essential part of digital marketing. For Google to place your business on top of search results for a keyword related to your niche and to place it on websites, you first need to have a business website of your own.
6. A Website is vital for Credibility
If someone came to you and asked that paying only $150 you can win a limited amount of credibility in the eyes of your prospects, would you do it or won’t?
I bet that any business owner with adequate cash in the circle or a bank will not take a minute in spending those $150.
Why?
Because everything takes time and what demands most of the time is credibility. In business, credibility and goodwill do not come too early. It can easily take from a handful of years to a decade or more.
So:
What is it that you can buy for $150 and which, in return, will make you credible in your market?
That’s $10 for a domain + $140 for excellent hosting. Yes, you need a website, and people who deal in a certain field and have their website, are considered more credible than those who do not have a base of operations.
Final Thoughts:
Being a firm believer in “less is more”, I would stop this blog post here. There are too many advantages to having a website for business, and this is not limited to blue-chip companies.
Even bloggers, personal branding guys, and small businesses go for a website because it is the best investment in personal/organizational growth.
The importance of a website for small businesses is simply undeniable, but I would only leave you with a challenge. Tell me a single disadvantage of having a website! I’m waiting!
If you need a website for your business, reach out to the #1 Web Design Company in NJ, Wowbix.
