I’m sure you’ve asked yourself this question many times. Especially if you are in your startup phase and your budget is tight. Starting a business in South Africa may be an enormous financial burden so perhaps you want to penny-pinch for things you may feel unnecessary for your small business. You may consider a website an unnecessary expense, but we think otherwise. A website for your small business is actually an investment in its future success.
Your website is how you introduce your businesses to new customers on your terms. No algorithm will affect you like Instagram, no server shutdown like Facebook, and you decide on the design and layout. A professional website may be one of your best shots at growing your business, and if you’re still not convinced read our five reasons why your small business needs a website.
1. Well, how credible and professional do you want your small business to come across? Your business is likely to look more professional when you have a website. Even if you have well curated social media pages, a website creates trust between your business and your potential customers because it ads a level of legitimacy by producing a professional digital footprint for your business. You can build legitimacy by displaying any professional certifications or awards you or your business might have and a custom domain and email address goes a long way to proving your legitimacy.
2. Do you want more people to know about your business? Of course you do! Creating a website makes your business more accessible. Your website should contain all the necessary information your clients need. When you rank well on Google and your website contains all the relevant information your clients need, your business becomes more accessible to them. Making your brand visible on Google through Search Engine Optimisation will help you gain new clients because it makes it easier for them to access your brand at any time of the day, especially if they can find all the relevant information on your website.
3. Do you want to become the go-to in your industry? If your answer is yes then you definitely need a website. A high quality website encourages your clients to trust your brand, 75% of users admit to judging the credibility of a business based on the quality of the business’s website design. This means that you can make your brand stand apart from its competitors just by designing a high quality, visually engaging website.
4. Do you want to learn more about your customers? Yes? Okay, a website can offer you intricate knowledge about your customers through analytics platforms like Google Analytics that are easily connectable to your website. These analytics platforms help you keep tabs on how long people stay on your website, how many people visit your website, how many of them are unique visitors and whether your visitors read through your content. Such information really helps you with marketing your business by giving you accurate and reliable information on which clients to target.
5. All your competitors already have a website and they’re already receiving all the benefits we’ve listed. This one is really important because how will you become the go-to if you are already falling behind by not having a website? If you truly believe that your brand deserves the Nr. 1 spot in your client’s minds then make an investment towards a high-quality website so that you can compete with other brands in your industry who already have. It’s not too late to join them and learn from possible mistakes they may have made.
So if you’re asking yourself whether you need a website or not we guess the correct answer is definitely yes. If you want to gain credibility, become an authority in your industry and gain new customers, consider getting your business a website. At JCKFRUT, we champion small businesses and their growth and believe unconventional, functional and engaging web design helps grow new and small brands. If you’re ready to begin your web design journey and grow your business, give us a shout and we’ll be ready to help you out!
