Five Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Website.

Launching your own business is a daunting task and trying to nail down all the necessities is a large part of that overwhelm. For most people who begin their entrepreneurial journey their first step is choosing a name, filing the proper paperwork, creating a logo, and hopping on social media. After you have accomplished these steps it can come to a stand still as you try to figure out your next move to help your business grow.

I 100%, whole heartedly would say - a website is your next step in escalating your brand and here are FIVE fantastic reasons to back me up:)

REASON NUMBER ONE - Online Presence 24/7

Think of it as having a physical store that is open 24 hours a day. If your ideal client is on a creative/motivated rampage (I am all too familiar with these) and up googling at 3am; now with the help of an amazing friend called SEO (this is another benefit we will discuss later) your business will be there for them to research, gain their trust, and help them make the next move to work with you. Without a website they are left browsing your reels on IG, if they find you, or sending you an emailing and losing some of that steam.

BONUS REASON: Your website is a fantastic platform for instilling your brand personality, this is you and your space that they can visit whenever their heart desires and will really help get your brand message across to your audience.

MASSIVE REASON NUMBER TWO: Credibility

Story time - about 8 months ago I was on the search for an assistant/online business manager. I scoured Instagram and browsed through profiles, and once I decided I liked the look of their IG account I then headed straight to the link in bio. If there wasn't a link in their bio to lead me to a website I was instantly OUT. This sent red flags to my brain causing me to assume that they were possibly new and inexperienced/unestablished which if I was going to be investing in someone I wanted it to be someone who I felt was qualified and experienced.

JUST A LINK TO A WEBSITE! That was all it took for me to bypass on so so many VA's and OBM's. I wasn't able to establish that instant trust which is so crucial in building that relationship with your potential clients. The next and unintentional step in my OBM journey was once I found that they had a website and got on I instantly made assumptions based on design. If their design felt outdated or wasn't "pleasing" to look at it also sent out red flags as this person was going to be working with a design business so I wanted to know that they had some sense or taste for design. 75% of consumers admit to making judgements on a company's credibility based on the company's website design, 100% of those folks googling you won't be able to make a judgement if you don't even have one... So not only did companies that didn't have a site take a hit (I literally didn't even move past their social media), but companies that had a website and didn't give it much effort also were marked off the list. So moral of the story - having even a basic website will get you one step further in establishing trust and confidence than not having one (bonus tip: having a good looking website will put you in the winners slot ;) .

BENEFIT NUMBER THREE - Expand Target Audience + Reach

So this one is a fantastic reason to have a website - not only have you now expanded your audience from the folks in your local community to literally ANYONE on EARTH, but now you have google and all these crazy smart search engines working for you! With the help of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when people google things such as "Squarespace Website Designer" my business is presented to them as a potential option to work with. Also with the help of analytics on your website you start narrowing down where your audience are coming from, which keywords they are using, and help reach an even larger audience of potential clients by focusing on that little aspect of marketing.

Back to the anyone on earth thing - this is one of the hugest reasons why I push local brands to go online! Imagine if you are a brick and mortar business - on average about 35 people visit your shop each day, during tourist season you spike which is exciting and you get a little busier. Now imagine if on top of your average in store shoppers you were able to present your store to 7 billion more people... that is what putting your business on the world wide web can do for you.

REASON NUMBER FOUR - Showcase your work

Photographers, artists, designers, and for others in the creative industries it can be difficult to convert your audience without them seeing your work. Your website can transform into your own personal gallery. You can showcase your work, inject a little personality, and make your website reflective of you and your work, helping your client truly absorb the beauty of your work (and you).

As a small businesses, when you are showcasing your work on your website most of the time it isn't about selling the work actually - we have this here to help establish that credibility we discussed earlier and also to convey your brand positioning.

REASON NUMBER FIVE - Foster a Community

This isn't a necessary reason, but it's one I wanted to include - when it comes to Social Media you DO NOT OWN your audience or have control of what happens there! This can leave many businesses very vulnerable if Instagram decides to give them the boot for accidentally posting the wrong thing or decides to crash one day. If you have a website your audience will still always be able to find you, also within your site you can also create your own community (member's area is a fun feature for this). Wether it be through blogging, or even just giving updates on projects, events, or other aspects of your business it is your space. This instinctively leads me into my email list chat, but we can save that for another blog post 🙂 .

Anyways - there are your five quick blurbs about why it truly would be beneficial to your small business to get a website up and running ASAP.

If you don't know where to even start, but know you want a website (and a good looking one) I have some utterly AMAZING news for you.

Pssst...we have a secret for you We're finally launching our much-anticipated Wilde Website Templates NEXT month! Join the Wilde Club newsletter to be the first to hear about the launch and get in on an exclusive promotion. We promise you won't want to miss it!!