It’s where all of your other marketing efforts should drive interested customers.
You own it, control it, and can use it to support all of your other marketing efforts.
1. 24-hour sales staff
Your website is a 24-hour sales staff that can make sales even when your business is technically closed. Promotes and sells your products or services all day. For local businesses a website acts as a digital brochure, sharing up-to-date information about your offerings, as well as a direct sales tool. The best part is there is no waiting or paying for new print materials along with a fast sales support system.
2. Schedule an appointment, book a table, etc.
( are few other essential features. Like a spa website, it can help the customers to book an appointment. )
3. Lead-generation functions.
You can set up your site to be a strong lead generation tool. A construction company could use a website to include some video walkthroughs of before-and-after shots of one of their large or extensive projects. The videos can be shot on a point-and-shoot digital camera and quickly uploaded to their site, providing a great way to show customers what the business is capable of.
4. About page
Why about the page? Many customers look to learn more about what your business stands for and who is behind it.
Introduces your business, brand values, unique selling propositions and mission statement.
For example, a teacher’s website might tell prospective students about what motivates them and what they’d like to accomplish with their students. It can discuss their background — where they went to school, special certifications, interests, etc., and include high-quality images or a video to help interested students learn even more.
5. Connect with new customers (and keep existing customers)
When you have a website for your small business, you are there when customers search to find a solution to their problem.
Use your small business website to help new customers find you. When people want to find you they search on Google, Google isn't just a search engine it is a gatekeeper of all the information present in the world. With so much sway over people finding stuff, it’s a good (read: necessary) idea to make sure your business is included in Google’s search results.
Use your small business website to keep existing customers engaged, informed, and
well served.
6. When you get a website, it gives customers a base to reach you 24/7.
You never know when someone’s going to be in dire need of your services, and without a website, you lose potential business from people who already know (and support) you.
E.g. --you’re a local jeweller, specializing in reclaimed precious metals. You have two wonderful clients, Michael and Liz, who purchased their wedding bands from you a few months ago. As much as Michael loves his beautiful new wife, he’s a little absent-minded and forgot her birthday is in two weeks — but he remembered at 10 p.m. Friday night.
Without a website, he’s going to have to wait for you to come in Monday morning to place an order, and to assuage his anxiety, he might just take his business elsewhere. With a website, though, Michael could simply log on and buy the rose gold band Liz has been eyeing for months from your shop. Crisis averted for Michael; loyalty earned for you.
7. Compete with big brands
One misconception about websites is that they’re only for national companies or worldwide corporations with audiences around the globe. Actually, websites are just as, if not more, beneficial for small businesses. They provide a great opportunity for local businesses to connect with local customers.
Search engines prioritize local searches and often rank results according to location, which is a benefit to local businesses. Get your website to show up in local search.
There are certain steps to take to help your small business show up in local search, including:
Create a Google My Business page and add your website.
Add your business to business directories and add your website.
Make sure your NAP (name, address, phone number) is consistent all across the web.
Add your business address in your website footer.
8. Get a website and build your business’s credibility
Not showing up in the search engines (or on the internet at all for that matter) is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility as a business. if you’re fantastic at word-of-mouth marketing, you could be missing out on a ton of referrals (customer’s friends and loved ones).
Things to do before you get a website :
Create your brand identity
Identify the primary purpose of your website
Decide what you want users to do when they get there
Create content
Now you know why it’s absolutely essential for a business to have a website. A website is not a luxury or bonus marketing tool.
It’s something you must have.