Many business owners and start-ups simply don’t take their website seriously enough. They use free builders or free blogging application to build their websites.
Or worse – some people think they can use only a Facebook page or a LinkedIn account and not even have a website, yet get the same results. If they do have a website, they don’t add the functionality it needs, or think about their audience when they put content on the site. In short, it’s obvious they don’t take their website seriously.
If you’re committing any of these sins, please think twice and know that your website is a serious tool to bring serious business to you.
- Your Website Is Open 24/7
Using the right technology, you can bring people to your website who will read your content and sign up for your email list. They might even land on specialized landing pages that encourage them to buy something that you’re offering, or you could provide a coupon to help get feet in the door.
- People Use Google First
If you’ve not faced it, you’ll have to soon enough. Most people use Google Search to find what they need before they leave their house. If you’ve filled your website with the right content, that content will help people searching for certain terms to find you and your business.
- It’s an Effective Branding Mechanism
You can use your website as a way to further brand your business. Today, it’s expected that you have a website for your business. It’s more than a brochure and more than a place to get information. It’s the storefront for your business on the web. For some people with solely online businesses, it is the only storefront.
- You’ll Get More Customers
By having a website that has the things it needs: a good home page, an about page that explains your story, and an email sign-up form, you’ll be able to get information to your audience faster than ever before.
- You’ll Earn More Revenue
It’s a proven fact (according to the SBA) that business owners who also have good websites earn more money. In fact, if you make sales online, over 50 percent come from new customers attracted to your website.
- Your Competitors Have One
Even if you don’t want to do it, you need to because your competition is doing it. Otherwise, when someone does a search for a business like yours, they’ll find theirs and not yours.
- It’s a Marketing Machine
Your website is a genuine marketing machine because it draws in interested people, teaches them about your offerings and your story, and then convinces them to try your products or services – all without your continued monitoring. Once it’s set up, it works for you.
- Your Website Is the Center of All Your Marketing and Branding Efforts
The truth is, your website should be considered the hub of all your online activities. Every social media post should lead back to your website. Content that your audience wants to read and engage with, then share with social media, should be put on your website.
Having an effective website proves that not only do you take your business seriously, you also take modern technology seriously. Websites give confidence to consumers that you’re a real business, that you take your business seriously, and that you have some sort of expertise or skill as explained by the content on your website.
Because people like buying from those that they feel they know, like and trust, a website is the first step to building that reputation.