Read The Blog
Read the BlogFive Reasons You Still Need a Website
Why do you still need a website in 2021 when you can do so much to promote your business for free on social media?
Social media platforms now offer so much to promote your business online that you may think you don’t need to invest in a website. For small businesses just starting up, it can be tempting to believe that you can only use free social media platforms to market your products and services and save on the expense of a website.
However, there are several reasons you DO need a website too, and this article explains the TOP 5 REASONS YOU STILL NEED A WEBSITE.
1. YOU own it!
The most important reason of all. Let’s be clear here – when it comes to your Facebook Business Page, Your Twitter account, your Instagram account – you DO NOT OWN THEM! Facebook owns your Facebook and Instagram accounts, and Twitter owns your Twitter account. LinkedIn owns your LinkedIn page (even if you pay for a premium account!). If they decide to remove your account, delete your content, or it gets hacked, you have no control over it.
If this is the primary method of reaching your customers and it disappears overnight, then your business has disappeared. You may have to start again from scratch. However, if you also have a professional, self-hosted website, the domain name and hosting are registered to YOUR business name and physical business address that’s unique to you. Ensure you use a qualified, experienced web design company to manage your site. Then if anything does happen to your social media account(s), your website would not be affected as it’s completely separate and under your full control. Even if your site were to be compromised, there are backups and security measures in place that can get it back up and running again, usually within a very short time.
2. Credibility
Having a website gives your business credibility and a sense of reassurance to your customers that you are professional and will be around for a while. Research shows that *70% of people in the UK still don’t trust what they see on Social Networks alone! They will research, read reviews and seek out your website to find out more about your business, products and services before they commit.
Your website allows you to establish a credible brand to establish trust and reliability. You can provide much more information via your site, such as FAQ’s, reviews, terms and conditions, product returns policy – all of which are difficult to get across on social media. Treat social media as your marketing tool for building awareness about your business and your brand, but treat your website as your shop-front, business card and the ‘core’ of your business.
3. Availability
You are available 24/7, 365 days a year. The COVID-19 Pandemic of the past year has changed how people shop and do business dramatically, and things will never fully revert to the way they were. Consumers are now adopting different habits, some of which they will presumably keep even after we are long out of lockdown. With so many people currently working from home, they are spending much more time online. They can wait in for deliveries and are becoming more used to purchasing online.
E-commerce accounted for *30% of total UK retail sales in 2020 – that’s an increase of almost *35% since 2019. So even when you are not working, your customers will have access to your information, products and services at a time that suits them. Your website can be processing sales and generating income for you while you – and possibly your competitors – are fast asleep!
4. Increase your reach
Google is the number one search engine and the best way for your business to get discovered by prospective customers. If your website content is Search Engine Optimised (SEO) to include keywords, key phrases, and correctly structured throughout, potential customers searching for your products or services will find you. It won’t happen overnight; you must be consistent and update your site frequently to ensure Google will re-crawl your site and re-rank you accordingly. But update your content regularly, and your organic reach will grow progressively over time. Compliment your website contents’ keywords and phrases with post content on your social media feeds, and you will significantly increase your reach.
5. Value
your website should be seen as a long-term investment for your business. Once you have registered your unique domain name, hosting, and email address, these are business assets to be valued as you would physical business premises but don’t need to be a tremendous expense. Print advertising in local newspapers, magazines and flyers is massively expensive these days and will inevitably end up in someone’s recycling bin after a day or two. There is also no guarantee that your ideal customer will see your adverts. Your website can be a permanent fixture in your customers’ favourites; you will appear in their social media feeds if they follow you, and they can sign up for your email newsletters via your website to be kept informed of your offers, events and promotions. All for less than a few regular adverts in your local paper would cost!
To summarise, there are loads more reasons you should have a website for your business, but they all boil down to these Top 5 in one way or another –
- You own it and have full control over it
- It gives your business credibility as a trusted brand
- You are available for your customers 24/7
- You will increase your reach to a more comprehensive range of potential customers
- It provides excellent value for money as a long-term investment
Refs:
*https://advanced-television.com/2020/05/12/study-most-uk-consumers-dont-trust-social-media-ads/
*https://www.emarketer.com/content/pandemic-pushes-uk-retail-ecommerce-past-30-of-total-retail-sales-2020
