DO I NEED A WEBSITE FOR MY SMALL BUSINESS?
YES, YOU DO.
If you’re
a business owner on the fence about creating a website, let’s save you some
time—you need one.
Here’s
why:
1 Consumer behaviour is constantly
changing to adapt to modern technology and the digital age.
Take for example the Yellow Pages.
The telephone was disruptive new technology in the
late 1800's and changed the way consumers did business. As more and more
households began to use the telephone directory to find local
products and services, business owners realised advertising in it was a
smart bet. By the 1930's, advertising in the Yellow Pages was standard
operating procedure for most businesses.
Then came the world wide web and a new disruption
to the commercial status quo: the digital transformation. As more and more
consumers realised they could find what they needed online faster and more
effectively than a phone book, behaviour shifted away from using the printed
directory.
By 2011 more than 59% of consumers were already going online to find local
businesses!
Fast-forward to 2020 and
the number of consumers that go online to find a local business has jumped to
97%! If you want clients to choose your company, you need to be found
online—meaning; you need a
website.
Deloitte’s analysis in Connected Small Businesses in
the United States [2017] found that digitally advanced
small businesses:
·
Earned twice
as much revenue per employee
·
Experienced
revenue growth over the previous year that was nearly four times as high
·
Were
almost three times as likely to be creating jobs over the previous year
·
Had an
average employment growth rate that was more than six times as high
2. Did you know 30 % OF CONSUMERS
WON’T CONSIDER A BUSINESS WITHOUT A WEBSITE?
Your website is your #1 marketing asset because we
live in a digital age. South Africans spend on average 59 hours online per week! By now, consumers expect
companies to have an online presence (including a website) and will consider a
company that DOESN’T have one as less professional.
3.
PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING FOR YOU ONLINE
Believe
it or not, there are 3.5 billion searches on Google per day, and at this very
moment, there is someone in your area online and searching for your exact
service. Guess who’s getting their business? Not you
4. THE MAJORITY OF CONSUMERS USE WEBSITES TO FIND
AND ENGAGE WITH BUSINESSES
6% of consumers primarily use a company’s website
to find and engage with businesses. That’s a pretty big chunk of consumers. Combine
that with the fact that 93% of online experiences begin with a search
engine—you do the math.
5. 75% OF CONSUMERS ADMIT TO MAKING
JUDGMENTS ON A COMPANY’S CREDIBILITY BASED ON THE COMPANY’S WEBSITE DESIGN
Not having a website makes consumers trust you
less. In fact, in 2018, 75% of people admit to making judgments on a company’s
credibility based on website design. People are more likely to do business with
a company they trust, and a website is the first place they go to check for
credentials and reviews.
Beware,
though—if you have a bad website design, it won’t help you at all. You
have 10 seconds to leave an impression on website
visitors and tell them what they’ll get out of your website and company. After
this time (and oftentimes before), they’ll leave.
6.
YOU NEED TO ANSWER BASIC QUESTIONS
QUICKLY
People
visit your website when they want to know something or do something. They also
expect immediate satisfaction, which means visitors should be able to answer
three questions within three seconds of landing on your website:
·
Who are
you?
·
What do
you do/offer?
·
How do I
contact you?
We live in an age of NOW, where consumers want the
information they seek immediately—meaning your company’s website should answer
each of the questions above without the user needing to scroll down the
page at all.
7.
SOCIAL MEDIA REACH IS FADING
So, you think you don’t
need a website because you’re on Facebook?
Great, so
is every other business in THE WORLD. You need a website even if you have a
Facebook page. While social media can help your business grow, don’t bank on
using it as your sole marketing channel.
8.
“MY BUSINESS IS TOO SMALL, AND I DON’T
HAVE THE BUDGET FOR A WEBSITE.”
This is
the most common objection we hear from small business owners. Look—your website is your #1 marketing
asset. Saying you don’t have the budget for it is like saying you don’t have
the budget to pay your staff—you’re going to get in big trouble later if you
don’t fork over that initial investment.
Get a
website—it doesn’t have to be fancy and expensive, but it needs to exist, and
it needs to be able to be found by search engines.
9.
“I
ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH BUSINESS. I DON’T NEED A WEBSITE.”
Even if you have more business than you can handle,
you need a website, no ifs ands or buts. A website doesn’t need to be built for the
purpose of adding new customers. Your potential client will look up locations,
directions and hours of operation on their smartphones or tablets for companies
in your industry.
Or are you a restaurant? Did you ever think
that your customers—now and future—may like to see specials and menu items
while they’re on the go? What if they’re in a hurry and want to order quickly
and leave? What if they want to know your hours and can’t make a phone call?
A good website will answer basic questions
right away—which could free up time if you’re spending a lot of it answering
questions on the phone.
[You
can add a reservation/booking button on your website, which again can save you
time and make operations more efficient. There is SO MUCH a website can do to
boost your bottom line without adding more customers, and while you may have
enough customers now, you never know what the next decade will bring. It’s best
to get your foot in the door with digital now in the event that it’s necessary
in the future.]
10. Our
favourite; “I HAVE A GUY THAT SAID HE
COULD MAKE ME A WEBSITE FOR FREE.”
This is a
bad idea unless that guy’s career is in web design for your industry.
Having a friend or family member make your website is like trusting a handyman
to lay the foundation of a skyscraper. A LOT goes into having an optimized
website—SEO optimization, file compression, responsive design, etc.—and if it
isn’t built on the right foundation, it will likely topple over.
Even if you DO have a
professional web designer as a friend, be careful—different industries have
different website design standards. For example, a website for health services
will have completely different components and mark-up than a website for the hospitality
industry.
11. “OUR CUSTOMERS AREN’T BIG COMPUTER USERS.”
Your customers aren’t “computer users”? hu?
What business owners are forgetting is that
“computer users” aren’t just people using desktop computers. It also includes
people browsing websites, social media, and apps on mobile devices and tablets.
Smartphone = computer user.
12. I DON’T
NEED A WEBSITE BECAUSE MY INDUSTRY DOESN’T NEED ONE.
This is a
HUGE misconception a lot of people have. Just because you’re not e-commerce
provider does not mean you don’t need a website. Consumers still need to find
you/ learn about you / trust you because
they buy from you.
13. How Much Does a Website Cost?
A website can cost anywhere from free to upwards of
100 grand.
For example, if you choose to DIY free
platform , you’ll pay a low monthly fee to ‘rent’ a spot on their platform.
On the other end of the spectrum is a completely custom website from
a professional
website design company tailored for your business needs. But: Do not let a price tag deter you from creating a website. If
you’re a one-man operation with zero budget, at least get a basic website that
you can jazz up later when you have a better cash flow.
Here’s
what goes into the cost of a website:
·
Hosting
– This is the service or company providing space on the internet for your
website.
·
Domain
name – This is shown as www.yourcompany.com, and is usually a yearly payment.
·
Design –
Some designs are free, other cost money.
·
Complexity
of design – The more customized your website is, the more expensive it is
In conclusion:
The Price of Having a Website Is Much Lower than the Price of Getting Left
Behind
A recent study found that only 56% of small
businesses say they have a company website.
That
should tell you two things:
1. 56% of businesses are doing
better than yours
2. You still have a chance to beat
44% of them if you get a website now
Anyone who tells you your business doesn’t need a
website is just plain wrong.
It costs
just pennies to get started with a web presence, and quite frankly, you’d have
to be insane not to get one. If you need help, give us a shout—we
have a wide range of website design packages for every budget, and we’d be
happy to walk you through your needs.
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