Hey there and welcome back!
So you need a website. Whether you have a small business currently or are planning on creating a new business or even a college student looking to impress potential employers when you graduate, you’re going to need to have a website. That’s just the facts with today’s world.
This is a topic I have covered before on this channel because it’s so important. You need to be online along with the rest of the world, and no, just having a Facebook page for your business or self is not going to cut it.
So today we’re going to take a deeper dive into why you need to have a website, whether it’s for your business or yourself.
Before we get started, if you want to see the rest of the videos in this series or more videos on digital marketing, ecommerce, WordPress, web design and other website related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and to ring the bell for notifications.
It’s your home on the internet
One of the most important reasons for creating a website is that it’s going to be your business’ storefront on the digital main street. It’s a place to call home.
This is where you can control the narrative of your business. You can tell your story to the world here.
You can show them around at what you can offer them and how you can help them, and you can show off your latest and greatest work. It’s an opportunity to convince people to become customers or clients, and you control everything.
You’re also meeting people where they are in today’s world. More and more people are searching for products online. And those searches are turning into sales, whether they are completed online or in person.
Like I mentioned in the last video, 46% of searches in Google are for local businesses or services. And people you attract from local searches to your website are more likely to convert into customers, upwards to 80 percent of the time according to WebFX.
If you’re not appearing in those searches because your business is not online with its own website, you’re missing out on a lot of sales.
A website gives your business a home online and can help you get found by people who might be looking for something that you offer.
It’s how you’re going to get found
Also, just having a social media profile and not your own website is going to keep you from getting found in searches that really matter.
As I mentioned in the previous section, almost half of all Google searches are for local businesses and services. And those are more likely to turn into sales. But just having social media profiles instead of a website with SEO and Local SEO support will keep you from showing in those results.
Of course, your Facebook page could also appear in search results. But the reality is that your page will only show if people directly type your business name. And how many people will do that? Those aren’t the people you’re trying to reach.
Instead, the people you’re trying to reach —prospective customers or clients — are using relative keywords and questions. For example, they will likely ask how to do something or use other keywords related to your business area.
You’ll need search engine optimization to be able to reach those searches. And the only surefire way to accomplish that is through your own website that has the right code structure, utilizes those keywords and garners the back links necessary to rise up the rankings and reach those prospective clients.
That’s worth more than any Facebook like or Twitter follower.
You have full control
Another key reason why you should have a website for your business is the fact that you have full control over what you put on your website.
You don’t have to play by some rules that someone else came up with. Your business’ page doesn’t have to look almost exactly like your competitors’ page. In short, you’re not stuck in a box when it comes to your own website.
You can easily add in an online store or a forums section to create a community. You can add as many pages as you want. And you can make your homepage look exactly how you want it to look.
That’s a level of control you can not get with any of the social media platforms out there today.
A website gives you the ability to do whatever you want with your website, and that can eventually lead to better conversions through your website.
You can also move your website if need be
It doesn’t need to be fancy
Also, your website doesn’t have to be fancy or have all of the bells and whistles. I think sometimes people think for a website that it has to have all of the flashy designs and cool animations, which do cost a pretty penny.
But your website doesn’t have to be like that. In fact, I would argue that a simple design is a better user experience versus ones with a lot of animations that can be very confusing.
Really, just to get started you need something called a minimum viable product. Essentially, that would be a website with a simple design and just the necessary information you need to display about your business — your name, contact information, address, who you are and what you do and offer people. And from there you can grow the website by adding a blog or adding an online store if you want to. The focus is on just getting something up so people can find and interact with your business. Plus you can start to grow your website from there.
The focus is on just getting something up so people can find and interact with your business. You can get started today even by creating a website with a self-hosted version of WordPress. With WordPress, you can create a simple website that helps your business get found on Google and it might cost you a couple hundred dollars or so if that.
So don’t think you can’t create a website because it has to be fancy. It doesn’t. Just creating a simple website with your basic information and growing from there is a good strategy for starting your digital marketing efforts.
It’s your digital marketing foundation
Finally, your website is going to be your digital marketing foundation for your business. Everything you do online will point back to this website.
A website is just a piece in the larger digital marketing puzzle. The other pieces include social media marketing, content marketing and online advertising. And everything you do on those channels will point right back to your website.
And that website is where everything is going to happen. It’s where people will learn everything they need to know about your business and become customers or clients. It’s where they are going to make the decision to buy your products or sign up for one of your services. It’s where the conversion will happen. Not on social media.
If you truly want to grow your business online, a website isn’t just something nice to have. It’s a necessity. And Facebook, other social media sites and Etsy just don’t cut it.
Outro
So that’s it for today. What questions do you have about needing a website for yourself or your business? Or what questions do you have about websites in general? Be sure to leave them all down in the comments section below.
If you want to go ahead and get a start on creating your new website, I would love to help you out. I offer everything from a simple WordPress website to meet your budget and build your digital marketing foundation to creating a completely custom website. I’ve left links down in the description below to both of those services if you want to learn more.
Next time we’ll take a look at the cost of a website, why it costs as much as it does and ways that you can lower that cost.
To see that video and other videos on digital marketing, ecommerce, WordPress, web design and other website related videos, be sure to hit the subscribe button and to ring the bell for notifications.
But until next time, I wish you and your business the best of luck.
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