The internet has changed everything. From how we shop to how we communicate. If you want to stay competitive in today’s market, you need to make sure your business has a website. A website is not only a great way to promote your business, but it’s also a great tool to help customers find you online. Here are some reasons why having a well-designed website is a good idea for any business.
Customers Can Find You Online
If you don't have a website, potential customers may never know about you. When people search for businesses online, they use Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and other search engines. These search engines allow them to type in keywords related to what they're looking for. If someone types in “flower shops near me,” chances are they'll get results that list local flower shops. But if no one knows about your flower shop, you won't show up in those searches. That's why having a website is so important. Your website gives you the opportunity to appear in those searches.
People Can Contact You Easily
When someone wants to contact you, they can do so easily via email, phone, or text message. If you don't have a web address, you might miss out on these opportunities. Having a website means you can receive emails, texts, and calls from people who are interested in your products or services.
You Can Promote Yourself
A website lets you share information about yourself and your company. You can add a blog where you can write articles about anything you want. You can even create pages that let visitors learn more about your business. All of these things give you the chance to promote yourself and your business.
You Can Reach New Audiences
Having a website helps to get more eyes on your business, and this won't always be through a direct search. The content across your website can speak to and answer questions that reach beyond your primary audience, and you could find that you're providing value and solutions to potential customers outside of your regular customer base. You can assess and react to this demand by creating new content designed to speak directly to these new audiences.
You Can Grow Your Business
You can build relationships with your customers through social media. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and others allow you to connect with your audience. You can post pictures of your flowers, ask questions, and answer comments. This builds trust between you and your customers. Having a website creates a central hub that all of these social media sites can link to, turning your followers into customers.
It Can Save You Money
It costs money to run a business. Whether you pay employees, rent office space, or spend money on marketing, running a business takes money. However, you don't always have to spend money to advertise. Once your website is up and running, there is a multitude of ways in which you can use your site along with social media to promote and convert sales for free. As opposed to having to always pump money into advertising in order to get returns.
Summary
With so much happening online, it really is a necessity for your business to have its own website. Even if it is solely to have a hub for sending potential customers to, it adds a level of professionalism that is now a standard in this day and age.
Not everyone has the budget for a professionally designed site though, which is especially true for many small businesses. So in this case, it would be advisable to create your own site instead of paying for someone to create a cheap one. When assessing the cost of a website, you have to consider everything that goes into creating one. There are numerous phases to designing and building a website, which takes great effort, time and consideration. If someone is offering to build you a website for a few hundred, it's unlikely that they are going to build something with careful consideration of what is right for your business and customers. It's more likely that they are going to use a template and simply change the colours and forms to your preference.
If you have the time and patience to, at least if you create your own site, it is with your target market and business ethos truly in mind. You can use a website builder like Wix or Squarespace and either select a template which you can then restructure, or start from scratch, building the site section by section.
If you are looking for a website designer that considers all aspects of your business and follows a thorough process that works for you, get in touch and see how Envy Co can help.