Your Business Could Miss Out Big Time without one!
Have you just started your own company? Congratulations and welcome to the most challenging yet most freeing time of your life. Have you been running an established business for years but still haven’t gotten around to building a website? Well, 2022 is your year to tick this off your to-do list. If you’re still aren’t convinced you need one, keep reading and see just how important it is.
1- Credibility and customer confidence
If you follow me on social media, you will already know that businesses that still use Gmail accounts publicly aggravate me. Buying a domain name and some email hosting will cost you less than $50 a year. This bare minimum for your business instantly sets you above anyone still using Hotmail or Gmail email addresses. But it’s 2022, people, and a website is now seen as a bare minimum for businesses to have full credibility.
2- Print ads are on life support; you need to be digital.
You probably don’t need this explained to you, but print ad’s are all but dead. Don’t get me wrong here; producing your print materials, catalogues or flyers for your customers can still work. But paying to advertise in Yellow Pages, billboards or magazines is like setting your money on fire with the hope the fireman wants to buy your product. The only way print ads still work is if you have a super defined niche and that ad reaches only these people.
So what does this have to do with having a website? Well, you will have to promote yourself on social media, Google Ads and more, but where are you going to send them? If you have a Facebook or Insta page for your business, you need to send them to a website. To buy, collect data, and sign up for something, your potential customer won’t chase you down. Sending them to a website that you control is the best way to ensure maximum engagement.
3- 24 hours, 365 days a year presence.
Having a professional and well-designed website is like having a salesperson who never stops working. I don’t know about you, but I do some of my best scrolling around 11 pm, and if your website has all the information I need as a consumer, you’ve won me. Don’t try and hide information, pricing, availability. People expect open and honest communication in 2022. There is nothing worse you can do as a business owner than say, hey, I’ve got this great product that fits all your criteria, but you have to email me to get a price? Don’t be that guy; there is no reason for it, and you will lose business before you even knew you had it.
4- Searchable means people can find you
Having a website means that people can find you. If they saw your car drive past with your logo, they can search for you. If someone mentioned your extraordinary business practices, they could search for you. If your Grandma said she had a great experience and a local shop, you can see where I’m going with this. Without a website, people simply can’t find you.
Sure, you might appear if you have a Facebook page, but as mentioned above, that’s not going to be enough to land more clients and scale your business empire.
5- Everyone is online, even your Grandma
In 2021 more than 2,400,000,000 people used the internet daily. This figure will only grow as smartphones become more prevalent around the world. So don’t get us started on Elon Musks Starlink project because everyone will be online once that is up and running!
6- Customers want to buy online, NOW
If Covid has taught us anything, we need and want to buy things online. Not only from the health perspective of not getting sick, but an entire generation of people are becoming adults that didn’t use the phone to communicate. These kids and young adults don’t want to call to buy something. They don’t want to call to see if something is in stock. They want to purchase the product and have it delivered. So getting your business online with an E-commerce solution is the only way you will remain competitive. Service business will be affected too, as this generation will only book you if you have a website to schedule a time that suits them.
7- It’s cheap AF to have a website now
In 2022 it is more accessible than ever with cheap do it yourself options to have a website for your business. Websites don’t cost $10,000 anymore (unless you have some seriously outlandish ideas). All consumers expect that you will have a website in order to be trusted. Look full disclosure, I’m a web developer, and I think businesses like Wix and Squarespace are an ok option if you want to go that route. But in all seriousness, if you own a business, why would you waste your time?
Your time is the most important thing you have, so why waste it trying to learn how to build a website. I get it, Wix and Squarespace are cheap, but if you really value your time and work it out, they will end up costing you more. Here is a quick example. Let’s say your time is worth $50 an hour (Probably worth more but let’s say this) to your business. To set up, write the copy, get all the right content and then play around with the design will take you anywhere from 10-50hrs. So somewhere in the order of $500 to $2500, it will cost, plus the monthly fee. Any good web developer worth his salt can build you a website for less than $1500. I can create a simple but beautiful website (Home, About Us, Services & Contact Us Page) which includes unlimited hosting, SSL, unlimited emails and domain for around $950. What about the hidden fees and costs? There is none, and ongoing fees are only $300 a year or $25 a month! Now let’s say your time is still worth $50 an hour, but you have the potential to make $250 a day in sales focusing on growing the business. Over 50 hours, that’s a $4000 cost/loss to your business. I know this might be hard to hear, but it doesn’t just stop at websites. One of the first things I try to identify when I coach people is how much time they waste. If you’re the business owner and can bring in big value clients, this should be your focus. Not trying to learn to design, write blogs or clean the office. If you get one thing from this article, please value your time and focus on what you are good at.
There are millions of reasons you should have a website, and it’s far too in-depth to write in a short blog. But remember, it’s 2022; you need to be online, offering clients offer they can’t refuse and find your niche. This doesn’t mean you only need a website to be successful. Gone are the days where you could do one thing and find success. Instead, you need to constantly push the envelope and find better ways to reach your clients.
As always, if you want to chat, I’m available on messenger and remember to help someone out today and make their life a little brighter.
Live Large and take charge – Cam
