Yes, you still need a website, no matter the size of your business or whether you’re B2B or B2C.
A recent news article caught my attention. The author said that one in four small businesses don’t have a website. And among those who responded that they have a website, many reported poor performance, leading to doubts about the investment. So, while they may keep their site up, they’re not investing as much as they should into turning their website into an engine for success.
In addition, Fundera released a study stating that only 64% of small businesses have a website. Additionally, 35% of those without a website believe they’re too small to have one.
If you’re a B2B company, you’re more likely to have a website. You focus most of your marketing on LinkedIn, and the first thing a prospect is going to do is look at your website. Your company page leads readers to your website, as do all your marketing materials. And even though you might also be posting engaging content on other social channels, you haven’t lost touch with the importance of your website.
But, if you’re a B2C company, you might think a website is not so important, especially since your customers may be able to shop and buy your products and services straight from your social media channels.
And even though the statistics tell us that billions of people are on social media, you won’t reach everyone through those channels alone.
And here are seven reasons why you need a website, no matter your niche or size.
#1 You Don’t Own Social Media Channels
The tech giants own social media channels. There are a few problems with this:
- You’re a slave to social media algorithms
- You have limited access to your customer profiles, making it more challenging to create content that speaks to them.
- Your audience may never see the content you produce.
- The content you put out on social media disappears after a while. If you publish a story, for example, it’s only up for 24 hours. But even routine posts on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter get lost in the stream of new content.
- You might have created an engaging post about your brand mission, ethics, new direction, staff, or something that will be impossible to find a month later.
You own your website. It’s a permanent home for all your brand messaging content.
Current consumers and an organic audience can visit your website at any time and see all the content that you have created.
Your website lets you collect customer data, including contact information such as email and mobile message accounts.
If you decide to use communities to grow your brand identity and create authentic engagement, you can easily do it on your website. In addition, you’ll have more control over your brand community.
You need to build a strong presence across all digital platforms, social media channels, and websites.
#2 Consumers Demand Authenticity
After almost two years of a pandemic, nearly everyone in the world is on the internet. And, according to just about every survey, this digital-first ecosystem is not going away. As a result, most of your potential customers are going to look for you online.
Social browsers may be using social media to research products. Yet, a large portion of the consumer audience will not consider doing business with you if you don’t have a website. This is true even in today’s prevalent social media ecosystem.
60% of customers expect brands to provide consistent and precise information across online platforms—websites and social media apps.
Your landing page has to be transparent—an accurate reflection of your brand’s products or services.
Consumer-conscious customers want to navigate through your site to confirm that your brand is presented truthfully across your social media channels.
A website establishes that you are a legitimate business.
#3 You Need A Website So Your Potential Customers Can Find You
Having a website makes it easy for potential customers to find you. When they search for a product or service, the SERPs lead them to your website. Roughly 60% of consumers begin their search for a service or product with a search engine. True, Google is featuring YouTube videos more frequently, if you’ve noticed. Still, the vast majority of consumers are looking for links to your website.
Very few people go past the first page of search results. However, a high-performing, SEO-optimized website moves you up the ranks on Google and other search engines.
#4 Your Competition Likely Has A Website
If you don’t have a website, you’ll lose out to the competition. Potential consumers who do an organic search, meaning they enter keywords that describe your product or service, will never find out about your small business. But, they’ll see your competitors.
#5 You Need A Website Because Your Design Options On Social Media Channels Are Limited
Because you own your website, you decide how it looks and have the right to design it according to what’s best for your brand promotion. The fonts, colors, graphics, layout—all of this is your decision alone.
Once you have created your marketing strategy and target audience, you can create a website that gets you to those goals. For instance, because you own your website, you can add a
- blog
- video page
- products page
- purchase portal
- customer service portal
- Q&A
- news and updates.
So, while you can, and should, infuse your social media profiles with your brand elements, there’s only so much you can accomplish on social channels. And you won’t be impacted by the latest changes made by social media platforms.
By designing a user-friendly website, you’ll be able to direct your visitors to all the essential information you want them to know.
#6 Your Website Success Depends on User Experience
Statistics indicate that a website visitor decides whether to continue exploring your site within one minute.
75% of consumers develop an opinion of a website based on its aesthetics.
88% of online consumers say they are less likely to return to a website if they had a bad experience.
An engaging and easy-to-navigate design is critical.
57% of internet users say that they won’t recommend the business if the website is not optimized for mobile. And as many as 85% of adult users expect the website to be as responsive on mobile as on desktop.
42% of website visitors expect a page to open in less than 2 seconds.
#7 You Need A Website To Benefit From E-Commerce and Online Shopping
According to Statista, 300 million shoppers will be online by 2023. While some consumers may take advantage of the ease of purchasing products and services from social media platforms, the majority will want to conduct business through your website.
Bottom Line
If you want to leverage your digital marketing efforts and money, increase your leads and close more sales, you need a website.
Building a website should be one of the first things you do once your business is up and running.
Today we benefit from website-building software that not only helps you build a dynamic, engaging, and successful website but easily fits within your budget.
You can create a perfect spiral between your website and your social media channels.
- Be sure your social media channels are prominently displayed on your website.
- Add your website URL to all your social media posts and stories.
- Share your website blog articles on your social channels.
- Help your customers move seamlessly between your social channels and your website.
Remember, you own your website, but the tech giants own your social media profiles.
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