1. Low budget web development
Small business owners usually have a small budget, as their profit will grow with time. However, they need to establish an effective web presence now, at the initial stage of their business, in order to be able to get a decent profit in the future. There is a cause-effect relationship. So if you have just started your small business, the sooner you create a website, the sooner you’ll get a profit.
You may think it is too expensive, but in fact whatever your up-front capital is, low budget web development allows you to obtain a simple but efficient website or app that is able to convert visitors into clients. It’s quite affordable for startups and small businesses to create a minimum viable product to quickly appear on the market, and then invest in its improvements later on.
2. Wider audience reach due to website accessibility 24/7
Regardless of what kind of small business you are running, having a website accessible on a 7-day 24-hour basis without taking breaks for holidays and weekends is a huge advantage. While your physical shop is closed at night, your online shop can keep on selling and bringing you income by catering to customers at any time that is convenient for them.
One more reason to create a web presence for your business is a reduction of distances. A website allows you to expand your target audience and make deals with customers who are located far away from you. Actually, the whole globe is within your reach.
According to the statistics, 60% of people execute online research through a search engine and 61% read product reviews before making a purchase. Modern users are used to shopping online without leaving the comfort of their homes. By the way, don’t ignore the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets and apply responsive web design to provide a satisfactory UX for mobile users.
3. Brand visibility and brand recognition
If you have just begun running a startup or small businesses, it’s especially important for you to get as many people as possible informed about your business. You want to let people know that your company exists, as well as what your company is doing, what it is called and how useful it can be for them — or for their friends/relatives/colleagues/neighbours, as sharing information and brand advocacy also work well.
A website that represents your business will help you provide online visibility and discoverability as well as establish or enhance brand recognition. If you have many backlinks from authoritative sites to yours, this will provide credibility for your business.
4. Easy online promotion of your small business with a website
Both evergreen website content and buzz topics helps get traffic. Doing content marketing right allows you to attract potential customers and convert them. According to InsideView, companies that do regular blogging generate 67% more leads per month, and thus have 67% more selling opportunities than those that don’t have a business blog.
Moreover, promoting your small business on various platforms on the Internet is much easier if you have your own website. You could enjoy the maximum SMM benefits for business if your social media posts contain links that direct social users to your website, where they can find more in-depth information. The same is true of paid social media. Promoted posts and sponsored ads linking to a website look reliable and authoritative.
5. Customer insights by tracking user behaviour on your website
Matching and exceeding the expectations of your audience allows you to reach customer satisfaction and earn customer loyalty. If you want to offer your clients exactly what they need, obviously you should know what they really need and who they actually are.
When you have a website, it’s easy to monitor how users interact with it. You can find out what your product or service people like the most and what they like the least, from what geographic location, devices and third-party sites they usually come, and much more. These insights allow you to create a clear vision of your user persona.
There are many tools for tracking the behaviour of your site visitors, gathering this data, presenting it in a convenient way, and storing and interpreting it. The most popular is, for sure, the one made by Google. Track key Google Analytics metrics to make your business more client-oriented. Use Google Analytics to guide your content marketing and other marketing strategies.
