Young female entrepreneur working outdoors. Writting in a notebook while talking on a phone.
About a third of all small businesses still don’t have a website. With that kind of statistic, you’d think that you’re in good company if you decide not to build a website for your new company.
Young entrepreneurs might not want to get a website built because it costs money, which needs to be invested elsewhere in the business. That’s fair, but you’re missing out on the big picture of your business.
You need to look at what a website can do for your business. Read on to learn why you need to have a website for your business.
1. You Can’t Rely on Social Media
Your initial plans to promote your business probably include social media. That makes sense since 90% of 18-29 year olds use social media.
Your customers can do everything on Facebook and Instagram. They can schedule appointments through Facebook Messenger and buy products directly through the platforms.
You think that you have a free platform to set up an online store, but remember, there’s a cost in there somewhere.
For starters, your business at the mercy of Facebook. Facebook can decide to make it harder for organic posts to be found, forcing you to invest in advertising. The company could decide that there’s a lot of value in your online store and charge you a monthly fee for the privilege.
When you build a website for your business, you have control over your online store.
2. Your Customers Are Online
Where do customers look when they’re trying to find a new product or information about a product? Google.
The companies that appear in those searches have local listings. These listings appear in local searches, such as ‘restaurants near me’ or ‘bike repair near me.’
You can have a listing without a website, but your chances of getting a call will diminish because you don’t have a website. Customers prefer to find out more about your business through your website.
They’ll then decide to call the business to schedule an appointment or make a purchase.
3. More Data to Make Better Decisions
Young entrepreneurs and new business owners are surprised by how many decisions they need to make each day.
You don’t want to find yourself in a position where you’re making decisions based on your instincts. You don’t have the experience yet, and it’s a dangerous road to travel.
You want to make it a habit to make decisions based on data. How can you do that? Look at your website analytics. Even better, invest your funds in Sitecore development.
This is a must for ecommerce operations. Sitecore gives you everything you need to know about your customers. You have detailed analytics and it has a CRM. That puts your most important information in one place.
4. Customers Have High Expectations
How well do you know your customers? They expect you to anticipate their needs and provide a personalized experience. That’s hard to do without a website.
With a website, it’s easy to make personalized recommendations and communicate with customers based on their interests. Customers will be more likely to stick with your company. If they feel like they’re treated like every other customer, they will leave.
5. You Can Compete Online
Websites are great equalizers in the business world. It’s easier to compete online and thrive against the biggest corporations.
With a smart search engine optimization campaign to drive traffic to your website, you can easily outsmart the competition and rank higher in search results. That will drive more traffic to your site.
Compare that to traditional advertising costs. Billboards, magazines, and TV ads cost thousands of dollars to run. With traditional advertising, you have to pay to have a campaign run for an extended period of time. Repetition is necessary for people to remember your brand.
You don’t need to do that with online advertising. You need to provide relevant information to people when they need it.
6. You Will Get Customers
Is your new venture a restaurant? You could think that it’s enough to have your business listed on GrubHub or another delivery service platform and have people order through there.
These delivery platforms will eat into your profits, even when times are tough. For restaurants that are facing capacity restrictions due to COVID-19, every sale counts.
The good news is that customers actually prefer to order right from your website. They don’t want to pay the fees, which can add up.
7. You Can Control the Customer Experience
Not only is it important to have a website, but it’s critical for the website to provide an excellent customer experience. If your business provides a poor online experience by directing them to social media, they’re unlikely to return.
With a website, you control the entire customer experience. You control how fast the site loads, which can impact conversion rates.
You control the brand experience of the site, which will impact brand consistency. Brand consistency doesn’t seem as important as conversion rates, but it can increase sales by more than 20%.
Young Entrepreneurs Shouldn’t Miss This Chance
Young entrepreneurs are taking the leap and starting businesses at rates not seen in generations. If you’re starting a new business, you don’t want to stop your progress because you don’t have a website.
You’ll lose customers and not even know it. Should you depend on social media to drive sales, then you’re one algorithm change from disaster. With a website, you’re in complete control of the customer experience and you can encourage them to buy.
It’s just good business sense to have a website for your new business. Head over to the Motivation section of this site to get psyched up about starting a business.
