Business websites are commonplace nowadays, but does your business really need to have one? How can it improve a business?

A website improves a business by building trust with clients, relaying important information to customers, and creating communication lines between employees and customers. Most customers today research products online before purchasing, so credibility is important.

If you have a good website for your business, you will receive more customers. Let’s talk about why a website appeals to customers and how you can build the perfect site for your business.

Value Proposition

Your Value Proposition allows you to showcase what value you intend to provide and who it is for. Basically, it’s the reason why customers should visit your site and interact with you.

The Business Owner’s Playbook describes a Value Proposition as something that “describes your company, your products and services, and how you and your offerings are positioned in the marketplace. It also defines your target market(s), ideally including demographic information such as age, gender, and household income.”

“An example of a value proposition might be, ‘We are the brand of choice for high-energy, achievement-oriented males who are looking for a pulse-pounding experience in a genuine auto-racing environment.'”
Source

Appear on Search Engines

Consumers use search engines daily, and consumers rely on them to provide relevant information about what they are searching for.

If your business has a website that appears on the first page of a search engine, you will get thousands of consumers going onto your website and looking at what your business sells. The first page of results on a search engine shows the most reliable and relevant information to customers, which means that what your business is selling is the best product out there, and they should buy what you are selling.

When your business’ website appears on search engines, you reach a large demographic of people you may not have considered beforehand. Websites make your business available to everyone in the world, which means that you may sell a product to someone that you would not have been able to sell a product to physically without a website.

“Build your website incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) techniques so that you can easily be found by people searching for relevant keywords. This can be an important gateway to expanding your business.” (Source)

If your business’ website does not appear on the first few pages of results on search engines, not many people will go to the website, and your business will lose money. This is especially true if your business writes articles. Newspapers such as the New York Times and The Washington Post have adapted their articles to appeal to search engines’ AI, so their website appears on the first page of results.

They know that much of their demographic now reads online articles rather than physical newspapers, and they know that people are not likely to look for answers to their questions beyond the first page of results. They recognized that having a website would help their newspaper reach a wider audience and make it more convenient for their current demographic to read their articles while out and about.

Build Trust with Consumers

If your business has a website, you will build trust with consumers, especially if the website allows the consumer to contact a support team with their comments, questions, concerns, and issues they have faced when using a product you have sold to them. If they can contact a human being, it shows that your business cares about them as human beings, and they are not just another way to make money in your eyes. This is very comforting to them. They want to purchase products and services from a kind, caring person rather than a cold and selfish business. It also makes it convenient for customers to buy your product, which everyone appreciates.

It’s important to make a good first impression because people will only spend a few seconds on your website before they decide to stay or click away. You need to present yourself as a useful, convenient option that can fit their needs.

“Learn about their needs, preferences, and interests. Establish and nurture two-way communication with prospects and clients. This will forge a deeper bond and serve them better.” (The Business Owner’s Playbook)

When your business has a website that allows customers who have previously purchased your products to leave reviews about their experiences that other customers can see, you build credibility with your audience. This means that customers trust that you will make things right if something goes wrong, and you are not lying about the product they want to purchase. These interactions will help you build a rapport with the customer. With luck, this will lead to them purchasing a product from your company and returning in the future. When you invest in good customer support, you’re investing in your business’s future.

Relay Important Information to the Public

When your business has a website, you can easily relay important information on the home page. You can talk about current sales, future sales, a new store opening, and store hours if your business has a brick-and-mortar location. You can even say that your business is hiring and link a job application. When you put information on a website, it makes it very easy for your customers to view that information, making your business seem transparent and trustworthy.

This will make consumers more likely to purchase a product from your business and mention your products to their friends and family, which means your business will make more money. (Source)

Online Shoppers

Nowadays, consumers do not simply go into a store to buy a product without doing some form of online research. They want to see the reviews, look at a photograph, know the price, and see the details of the product before purchasing. They also want to know that they are getting the product for the smallest amount of money that they can. Research has shown that 81% of shoppers conduct online research before buying a product. (Source)

If your business does not have a website, many consumers will not know that you sell a product that they are looking to purchase. I cannot tell you how many times I have walked into a store and been surprised that they sell a certain product. This lack of information means that your business will lose potential sales. This is easily remedied by creating a website for your business.

Usability & Experience

Website usability is key when creating a website for your business. If your business looks unorganized and is hard to navigate, customers will not stay on the website to look at the products or services that your business is offering. It’s always easier to go to another website to purchase a product, which means your business loses potential sales.

A clean and organized website will keep more visitors on your website longer, making them more likely to purchase services or products from you.

The better experience your website provides, the longer your customer will stay on it, and the more money you will make. 💰

Most people nowadays are searching the internet with mobile devices. However, many websites only look good on desktops, not mobile devices. Some could look good on mobile and desktop but just be harder to use on mobile devices. While you may not think that it makes much of a difference, it actually does.

One important thing to remember is that mobile devices only have so much room on the screen to show a website.

This means that if your website has large pictures or text that don’t resize to mobile screens, they will look bad or get cut off in the customer’s view of your website. At that point, it is almost certain they will choose to go to another website. Consider routinely looking at your website on a mobile device to make sure that it looks how you want it to before making changes available to the public. (Source)

Business Presence and Credibility

Websites create a presence for businesses. Many small businesses aren’t successful, partly because they can’t adapt to the changing online business environment. You need to keep your website relevant, updated, and polished. You’re communicating value to your visitors, and a good website can add lots of credibility to your name.

Clients and customers want to know about a business’s history and whether or not they are trustworthy. By creating a website for your business, you can tell customers a little bit of the company’s history and what you aim to do with the services it provides. Learning about a business’s background and founders can help visitors build trust and form a connection. An “About Us” page can be very helpful in achieving that!

According to Forbes, “Websites increase your organization’s credibility. Chances are several providers are offering a similar service to yours. One way you can stand out is by having a website that looks good and clearly communicates quality information to your consumers.” (Source)

If your business’ website looks great, while competitors only look okay, consumers will often choose to purchase something from your website rather than the others.

If people can’t find any information about your business online, they may assume that it’s fishy or unreliable. Today, many customers believe that if they can not find a product or business online, they are not trustworthy because they cannot see reviews that other people have given to the business. A website fixes that problem, even if it only shows the products you sell and some reviews that you have received.

Convenience

Convenience is important to people, especially when purchasing. If they can not easily see what a business is selling or find what they were looking for within a few seconds, they can become frustrated and give up looking.  That is especially true if that website has not been designed appealingly. If they do not find a product they are looking for on your website, they will go to another one. This can also happen if they find the product that they are looking for on your website, but it does not have any reviews, information, or the price that you are selling it for.

Shoppers today want to find what they are looking for almost immediately, and they want to know all the relevant product details upfront. Don’t try to dodge around the important issues or be subtle. If people are looking at products, they’re looking to buy.

When your business has a website that gives the consumer that information clearly and concisely, shoppers are likely to purchase that product from your business rather than another one that did not give them the information they were looking for.

Cost of Having A Website

Although having a website will increase the amount of traffic your business receives, there is a cost. You will need to find a website hosting service to use to make your website available for the public to use and see. It can cost $3 to $80 a month, depending on what hosting service you choose to use and what plan you choose.

Then the design of your business’ website comes into play. Your business may choose to hire a web designer or a design team to create the design of your website or logo, but that can become very expensive. Nowadays, many businesses use other websites to help design their business’ website, such as WordPress, SquareSpace, or Wix. All of these websites have design templates for you to use, but you lose creative freedom if you use these websites to design your business’ website.

WordPress is one of the most popular website design platforms. It costs $25 to $291 a month, depending on the plan you choose to use. It is considered one of the best website design platforms because of the number of design templates available for you to use, but it is also one of the most expensive.

Squarespace is also a popular website design platform. It has a relatively low cost and ranges in price from $12 to $40 a month. However, it does not have as many design templates as WordPress and is slightly harder for beginners to use.

Wix is another popular website design platform. Wix does have a free plan, which is great for individuals who work freelance, but it is not always great for businesses. The plans range in price from $14 to $39 a month.