With the surge of the internet and technology nowadays, you cannot deny the fact that people - customers, at that, are more present in global online communities. The people of the world aren’t just citizens anymore – they are netizens. Netizens are any individual that uses the internet predominantly. Socializing isn’t the only trend for them now, especially during this pandemic. They have also resorted to doing their shopping online. This is what makes it a fact that you need a website for your business.
You may not think much of it, wondering, "I am a simple entrepreneur, having a website for my business may be worth more trouble than it's worth." And we understand how you'd think and feel that. But don't you think that you might be underestimating yourself and your business? You might need a little convincing but we fully believe in your capabilities and your potential! You can do so much - reach more customers and connect with more people.
Here are the 10 reasons why your business needs a website:
- Having a website means you get to be the author of your business’s story.
- Constructive feedback to build your confidence or help you improve.
- A website can turn curious visitors into loyal customers.
- Customers talk to other customers – your website can display that.
- A website means unlimited and easy advertisement.
- “Website or it doesn’t exist.”, website means credibility.
- Having your website makes your business easy to find.
- Having your own business website means never having to close shop.
- Forging lasting connections can be made easy with websites.
- Receiving payment and sending your goods is a piece of cake!
Seems simple enough, right? Let’s dive even further.
Ten Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Website
1. Having a website means you get to be the author of your business’s story.
With the speed of how information is spread today through the internet, it can be easy to lose sight of what is true and factual. This is why your business needs a website. Having a website allows you to control what is seen by your customers - or potential customers. Your website can easily act as the main medium and resource that they will find and look at. Take note, you don’t just control the tale of which your business is the main character, you also must be aware of your responsibility of making your character - making your website look good so that it gains more followers, supporters, and eventually, customers.
Image taken from Strikingly User's website
2. Constructive feedback to build your confidence or help you improve.
You have to consider that one primary incentive why your business needs a website is that it can be seen by everyone and anyone who visits it. You open yourself up to the public’s eye and thus your business’s identity is now an open book – exposed to not just great reviews but also honest and possibly helpful advice from your visitors and customers. You can easily do this by adding a contact form to your website. This will allow your website visitors and customers to leave their contact details and even a comment or suggestion that you can consider to further grow as a business. You can also use a live chat feature to talk and interact with your customers in real-time. This will allow you to more easily connect with your customers and address their needs and/or wants.
3. A website can turn curious visitors into loyal customers.
Another primary reason why your business needs a website is that you do not only get to display your products, you can easily and instantly sell them. Having a website for your business acts as both your business’s salesperson and cashier. By adding a simple store section to your website, you can easily lead your customers to buy the product they want. In as simple as that, you have gained customers that will surely come back to your site whenever they need or want anything in your array of products.
4. Customers talk – your website can display that.
Not only do you need a website for your business to gain customers and gather feedback from them, but it also allows you the chance to capitalize on what your loyal customers say about you. You can utilize their feedback and allow other customers - potential customers to hear their opinions. See how children’s learning book author, Ruth Eckhoff, utilized the grid section of Strikingly.
Image from Strikingly User's Website
She used the Grid section to highlight comments from customers that were satisfied with the book she wrote. While she only used simple text boxes to quote her customers, you can also use this feature to put in screenshots of social media reactions of your customers and even link their primary post or profile in it. Nowadays, online shoppers rely on comments and feedback from other customers before deciding to make a purchase. This is a clear implication of why your business needs a website. While your word as the maker of your product means a whole lot, you cannot underestimate how other customers’ words may impact the minds of many potential customers. And again, having your own website allows you to control all these.
5. A website means unlimited and easy advertisement.
Logically, another motivation as to why your business needs a website is to showcase and display all your products in the best way possible. Because you have full control as to what your website would look like, you can choose to design your website in a way that will highlight all your products and services. Free website builders like Strikingly help you achieve this. Building your own website would allow your products and your business to enter the netizens’ market. This means that you will always potentially have prospective customers lurking around your site - advertising your products, without much effort from you anymore.
A website also allows you to put in announcements or updates about your products. You can use a pop-up feature that can show new/ongoing promos, coupon codes, and other exciting news about your products or an email sign-up that can encourage your audience to sign-up for updates, newsletters, and the like.
6. “Website or it doesn’t exist.”, website means credibility.
A business twist to the phrase that is commonly used today. See, another reason why your business needs a website is because having one increases your business’s credibility. If someone, a friend of a loyal customer perhaps, were to be interested in your products, they would surely look up your brand or your product online. Not having your own business website allows that someone to just forget your existence or worse, be led to another seller. Having a website provides evidence of your existence and your credibility. You allow potential customers to see first-hand and personally that you don’t just exist, your products are truly amazing and trustworthy.
7. Having your website makes your business easy to find.
Upon using search engines to gather and construct their own insights about the products you offer, having a website allows you to lead their searches in the right direction and feed them the right information. Being able to build your website with the knowledge to use the internet search engines to your advantage will enable you access to more potential customers. Your website is home to your products, it is your own little corner in the online world. With the right keywords added to your website, you can further help potential customers be led to your website. This is why you need a website for your business - it allows you to not only enter the industry but also go head-to-head with big and top companies in the country or the world.
8. Having your own business website means never having to close shop.
While physical stores allow the customers to personally feel the products they are looking to buy and allow you to assist them in real-time, they can only be open for how many hours. That is, one advantage of an online store - a business website is a shop that never closes. Another truth as to why your business needs a website is that having one means that your customers have access to your products 24/7. It means that no matter where they are and what time it is for them and you, you can put in information and sections that can assist them. Customers can add to their cart and checkout anytime they want, anywhere they are. You can also track your store visitors and gather the information you can use to further improve your business website.
Image taken from Strikingly
9. Forging lasting connections can be made easy with websites.
Need we say more? A website allows you access to your customers so that you can always actively initiate conversations and thereby, connections. Connections that can last for a long period of time. This is another answer to your question, “Why do I need a website for my business?” Your website can feature email sign-ups so that your customers can choose to receive updates in their emails about your products, your promos, or other exciting news. Your website can also allow you to put in your social media accounts. This can allow customers to follow/like your business’s social media and be updated whenever you post. As another feature, you can also add a social media feed section directly to your website. This will allow you to display your business’s own social media feed.
10. Receiving payment and sending your goods is a piece of cake!
Without actually opening a cash register, you can easily receive payments from your customers directly through your business website. This is another justification why your business needs a website. You can give your customers the satisfaction of easily checking out your products and paying for them with ease. Strikingly offers you different ways to accept payment from your customers. You have the option to accept credit card payments from your customers or you can also embed payment sites like Paypal onto your site. A new feature in Strikingly offers offline payment or the option for customers in certain countries to pay for their purchases on delivery, more commonly known as Cash on Delivery. The checkout process of your website would also gather the necessary information for your business to deliver the products that your customers ordered.
Have we convinced you why your business needs a website? I'm leaning towards yes as your answer. But hey, we understand if you are still a bit hesitant. After all, we get that building your own website can be difficult.
Image taken from Strikingly
There are a lot of things that you can do to grow your business. And with today's society, having a website for your business is among the best things you can do. Growth won't come easy, but with the right guidance and tools, you can go far. Now, don't you worry because now that you know why you need a website for your business, Strikingly has got you covered. Sign up or log in now and get started on your very own website.
