If you’re at the helm of a young business, you probably have plenty of daunting tasks on your to-do list. We know you’ve been busy hammering out a sound business plan, finding affordable office space, cultivating supporters, securing funding, and producing your handmade products or streamlining your services. If you haven’t made developing a website one of your priorities you’re losing out on some incredible opportunities for business growth.

For those of you who already have a website, but are wondering whether or not it’s time to take your online presence to the next level, then our post, Five Reasons to Redesign Your Website, may provide the answers (or the confirmation) you’re looking for.

A website is vital to your business’s success. A major key to developing a successful business is to create a professional website that promotes your enterprise in the best light possible. Think of your website as a cornerstone of a strong and successful business. Use your website to build awareness, promote beneficial content, share success stories, educate your audience, generate leads, become a thought leader in your industry, and connect with your customers. Done well, a website built for inbound can become the primary sales tool for your company.

9 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Website

Whether you’re a one-person endeavor or you have the livelihood of several employees under your business umbrella, your business needs a professional website. You may think that posting regularly to Facebook, carefully curating your Instagram feed, or creating a dynamic profile on LinkedIn is enough. But we’re here to tell you that it’s not.

Reason #1: Your Website is Core to Your Marketing

Whether you’re selling lawn care services, insurance, chocolates, plumbing supplies, or you’re informing thousands of families about the latest news regarding Nashville Public Schools, your website ties everything together. So before you spend a penny on social advertising or invest the time and capital in printing business cards, brochures, flyers, radio ads, magazine ads, and brochures, you need a website that ties everything together.

Every product, news release, or special offer should live on your website first. Once you have a professional website you can use other forms of marketing to drive traffic and leads to your site. It’s the trunk, or the core, from which all your marketing branches derive strength.

Reason #2: An eCommerce Website is Your Digital Salesperson

If you’re selling something, your website needs to be an eCommerce website. Speak with your agency to determine the eCommerce platform that’s right for your business and your products. You’ll want a responsive, fast, and intuitive website that features stunning imagery and compelling product descriptions. For more on building an online store, check out our post on eCommerce necessities.

If eCommerce is out of reach, at the very least, your website needs CTAs that convert and a direct way for your customers to contact you. Let your site do the talking.

Reason #3: Your Website Helps You Build Credibility

Much like the great MC, you know you’re too legit to quit, but without a website, no one else is buying it. Literally. If you don’t have an established and credible online presence, potential customers aren’t going to be able to find you and if they can’t find you, they’re not buying from you.

Let’s pause for a moment to think about how you search for contractors, dentists, and web design agencies. Do you reach for the Yellow Pages? Probably not, and not only because hard copies were last published around Mr. Hammer’s time. Instead, you start with your computer, don’t you? Even if you rely on other sources to verify your preliminary research, odds are good that you’ll quickly dismiss a website that is poorly designed, takes too long to load, features poorly written content, or isn’t mobile responsive.

In an article for Forbes Business, contributor Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle writes “Beginning with your website, consumers are passing judgment and making decisions about whether or not they will even visit your store, restaurant or office. They’re likely to dismiss you entirely, as well, should they believe your website doesn’t reflect the kind of experience your business – or a business like yours – should offer.”

See? Forbes agrees; a website says a lot about a business and its priorities.

Reason #4: You’re in the Driver’s Seat

If you think that having a robust Facebook page or online directory listings and citations (like the YP of 2017) is enough, think again. When you rely on a third-party like YP, Angie’s List, or Google Business, you’re essentially at their mercy. If they decide to change how they do things, if their prices spike, or if you haven’t listed your business just so, then your informational congruency is compromised and you’re going to get lost in the digital shuffle. If you’re wondering what the heck “informational congruency” is, read this. We’re not making it up.

Reason #5: Your Website is Open 24/7

So you can get some much-needed rest, you need a digital presence that’s there when you’re not. Your website can provide answers to frequently asked questions, direct customers to helpful resources, and sell when you’re just not able to take orders.

Reason #6: Your Website Connects You to New Customers

Customers are good, customers are nice. They may not always be right, but we love them anyway. If you’re totally happy with your existing customer base, your long-range income goals are totally on track, and you’re set for years to come, then you probably wouldn’t have made it this far in the post.

Let’s face it, if you’re considering developing a website for your business, then you’re probably looking to attract some new clientele. A well designed website can help you attract new clients by providing the answers they’re turning to the internet to solve! Just as you’re reading this blog to find answers to your pressing questions about SEO, inbound marketing, and website design, you could be providing the same valuable content about your business to inquiring minds!

Reason #7: A Website Boosts Local Business

Websites aren’t just for the major corporate players anymore. In a survey commissioned by Google, the search engine giants found that rather than diverting traffic to major eCommerce-only retailers, searching online (and finding the information consumers are seeking) directs 3 out of 4 shoppers to local retailers.

When you work with pros, your website has a much better chance of ranking organically for key local search terms. Website developers will take advantage of SEO tools as they develop your website and professional content teams will find the best keywords, write smart headlines, and use links wisely throughout your site. Can’t get enough SEO? Settle in and binge-read our 6-part series on Shaking Off SEO Myths.

Thanks to a new website and a commitment to inbound marketing, Nash Painting has watched its organic rankings steady improve. Despite tough competition, the crew at Nash Painting enjoy 1st-page listings on SERP

Reason #8: Your Website is Your Online Brochure

Unless you spend a ton of time on the road or behind a booth at a trade show, brochures are a thing of the past. Save the dollars you’d spend on print collateral and invest them in a great website. If you’re a seasoned networker and you see a lot of benefit from your face-to-face interactions, even better! Hand a potential customer your beautifully branded business card and direct them to your similarly branded, mobile responsive website that’s chock-full of great information.

Reason #9: A Website is More Affordable Than You Think

A good website shouldn’t set your business back. It should propel it forward. At Horton Group, we believe that every business needs and deserves a great website. If you’ve got lofty ambitions, but want to get started right away, then growth driven design might be right for you. We’re flexible.

To learn more about our web design packages, get in touch.