Mila Joshua Yona
In this digital era, the online world is fast-paced and consistently changing. Every business, whether small or big must have a solid presence by having a quality website. Without it, you may lag behind while your competitors triumph.
In this article, I will show you why every business must have its own website. But before we go into details, let’s first understand the meaning of a website in simple terms.
What is a website?
In layman’s language, a website is like a book. It has pages (for example, homepage, contact page, sitemap, etc.) A page within a website is called a web page and a collection of these pages put together makes up a website.
Notable examples of websites include: Wikipedia.org, google.com, and also milasona.com
Web pages are created using front-end programming languages and are majorly two, HTML & CSS.
In order to get the concept of a webpage better, consider a webpage as what you see whenever you visit a website (for example, you’re viewing a web page on https://milasona.com right now.)
Websites contain any type of information including hyperlinks, text, graphics, color, videos, audio, and animation.
When someone serves you their website address and you happen to enter it in the address bar of any browser (Google Chrome, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari), it generally takes you to the website homepage, which introduces you to their entire website. From the home page, you can click on hyperlinks to reach other sections of the website (for example, privacy policy page, sitemap, contact page, etc.)
So having understood what a website is, now let’s look at the reasons why people visit websites.
Why Do People Visit Websites?
People do visit websites for two major reasons;
- To find information they need: This could be anything, from inquiry, finding the best hotel nearby etc.
- To complete a specific task: Website visitors may want to buy the latest and trending product on market, sell their services online or simply download a particular software
First Things First: Whenever creating a website, put in mind that you are not creating it for yourself, rather you’re creating it for your website visitors. Whatever they try to find online, they must find it on your website. Your content must be organized in a manner that can be easily navigated.
Why every small business should have a website?
Many small businesses today look at websites as a mere luxury. They ignore it without a second thought that businesses that don’t have an online presence don’t really sell. Some have myths that having a Facebook page alone is enough for an online presence, others think that having a signpost next to their business place/shop with their phone number and location will be enough to generate calls for them.
Even still there are those who still believe that the only way to promote their products is by doing door-to-door marketing via their sales agents. However, truth be told, the only legitimate way to promote your business is by building a professional website.
Consider the reasons below on why every business must have a website.
1. Connect with new customers.
While you might already have an established customer base, whether online through social media or offline, a website provides the opportunity to further connect with new customers who might be unfamiliar with your business.
90% of people browse select businesses on the first page of Google’s search results. Therefore ranking on Google’s first page for related keywords is very priceless. It will help you connect with new leads without having to pay for it.
2. A website increases credibility.
The ability for your business to be found whether online or physically is very important.
If you don’t have an established online presence, then customers won’t be able to find you. And your absence online may get people to question the legitimacy of your business.
It makes your business look traditional (outdated), out of touch and people won’t have a good impression that you’re a real business hence they will not trust you.
3. Marketing.
Your business competition has an online presence and so should you. Marketing is used to enhance your business by increasing brand awareness with a purposeful website.
You will need to execute digital marketing strategies in order to reach your target audience.
Whereas some companies are spending millions to market their products, you will be able to connect with your customers and build a brand full of loyal and targeted following just with your website.
4. Showcase your work.
Almost 90% of website visitors first look for a company’s product/service page before ever visiting any other section of the site. Therefore, no matter the business you’re into, a website is a great place to showcase your work.
By including your portfolio, testimonials about your work, and image gallery, you can show people whatever makes your business unique.
5. A website sells your products/services online.
Your website acts as a 24-hour salesman. It provides a medium for you to demonstrate your product/service outlining the differences.
You can build a better connection with your target market and sell your product/services through your website.
6. Affordability.
Don’t start looking at your empty pockets! Websites are very affordable more than you know. Building and maintaining a website is cheaper and easier than ever before. If you know web designing, you can design one for yourself. If you aren’t tech-savvy, I can help you get a professional website at an affordable cost. Contact Me Here
7. Time Saving
A website saves you the time of having to explain to every individual customer what your business is all about. Put all information about your business on your website, which will be available to new and existing customers forever.
No need to waste your precious time providing information about your business whether face-to-face, via emails, brochures, or on phone. Every time you waste is money!
Conclusion
In my future articles, I will show you how to improve your website performance but the most important thing you must remember is that a website is a communication tool and it can only be successful when its message is received by the person it intended to communicate to.
So listen now you small business owners. Not having a website is seriously hurting your business without you knowing. There is no excuse for not having one. Get started now!
If you have any thoughts running through your mind, leave them in the comments below! Cheers!
