Do I Need a Website?
Reaching Your Target Demographic Online.
If you own a business and still doubt whether or not you need a website, let me start by saying, there are very few businesses today that don’t need a website, I can’t even think of a business that wouldn’t benefit from having a website!
Did you know…
97% of consumers are going online to find and research local businesses?
By not having a website, you’re missing out on a plethora of new customers that want your products/services but are unable to find and engage with your company, in other words, you are unintentionally providing business for your competitors who might already have a strong presence online!
In fact, you should study your competitors and their online efforts to see what is working for them, and incorporate these practices into your online strategy, only 10 times better, while staying true to your brand.
So instead of sitting on the fence, and asking yourself “Do I Need a Website?”, you should instead be asking yourself, “Why Don’t I Already Have a Website?”
To put things into perspective, by 2011, 70% of people worldwide no longer used printed phone directories and 59% of all consumers worldwide were going online to find local businesses, so if you want consumers to use your services or buy your products, you need to be found online, meaning, you 100% need a website.
If you’re still not convinced, there was a study done by the Stanford Web Credibility Project, which suggests that 75% of consumers base the judgement of your business’s credibility on the design of your website.
(READ: 4 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Killer Website to Compete)
Not only do you need a website that reaches your target demographic, but it will also need to:
- Look professional. Generate leads and sales.
- Be optimised for an experience that satisfies both you and your customer’s needs.
- And most importantly, it needs to represent your Brand & Message in a way that is consistent across all of your platforms, including Social Media and even Traditional Advertising.
Getting started might seem daunting, but sometimes the key to success is to step outside of one’s comfort zone.
The good news is, that by researching where to go from here, you are already well on your way to taking that first step!
If you’re not yet at the stage of engaging the services of a Web Design agency, here’s a few tips when building your own:
- Choose your domain name – I’ve put a link below so you can check domain availability.
- Set up your hosting – There are many providers for this all around the world, I’ve also included a link to our Cloud hosting below.
- If you’re not engaging the service of a web design agency, there are many low-cost providers for building your own or you could have a crack at editing a WordPress theme – again, I’ve put a few links below.
- Keep your Brand & Message consistent across all platforms as it is your most valuable asset.
- Don’t be afraid to give consumers Free advice. This will build your brand as an authority while at the same time helping your fellow human being.
Useful Links:
- Finding your new domain name
- Caffeinate Cloud hosting
- WordPress
- WordPress Themes
If you like what you read, then make sure you join us for one of our workshops.
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