Are you wondering about launching a business website but not too sure about it? You’re not the only one. A lot of businesses struggle with the idea of whether or not they should launch their service business website. This is primarily the case with small and medium businesses which operate locally. A large business that caters to clients and customers from all over the state, country, or even globally will definitely need a website, and there’s no second opinion over that. But when a business operates on a small scale, and most customers and clients are locals, a website may seem unnecessary at such a stage.

If you feel that a Google website website is not too much of a priority for your business, you’re losing out on many potential benefits that come with a business website. So we’d like to bring your attention to all the new possibilities and benefits of having an official website for your business, even if you’re operating locally.

Top reasons why you should have a business website are:

1. It paves the way for growth and expansion
2. Billions of people are on the internet, so that’s where most of your potential customers are too
3. Website creates an impression, identity and brand name, even for small businesses
4. It’s the only way to reach out to distant customers
5. Your website stays live and open 24/7

Small Businesses’ Approach Towards Having a Website

Before we talk about the importance of a corporate website design, let’s talk about facts.

35% of Businesses Feel That Their Business Is Not Big Enough For Them To Need A Website. (Source)

Most small businesses feel that they are just not operating at a large enough scale that a website would be essential.

46% Of Small Businesses Didn’t Have A Website In 2018. (Source)

This is a figure from 2018, and things may have changed a bit since then, even more so with the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed employees and businesses to turn to online mediums. However, it’s still alarming that almost 50% of small businesses didn’t have a website just three years ago.

We can understand why business owners feel that way about websites. First of all, it isn’t free, and you need to pay for the hosting. And if it’s a new business, they may not even have any experience maintaining a website and online marketing. So on one side, you have your usual offline, local sales, which is already bringing you income, and on the next side, you have the idea of launching a website that will cost you time, money, and effort, at least in the beginning. And this is the main reason that demotivates small businesses from launching a website.

Now to help you change this approach, let’s see why a website is essential, even more so for small and medium businesses.

5 Reasons Why You Need a Website for Your Business

Without further ado, here are the main benefits of having a business website, applicable to every type and scale of business.

It Paves The Way For Growth And Expansion.

So we talked about how 35% of businesses think they are too small to need a website. Now if you’re planning to wait until your business grows larger before you start a website, that’s a flawed approach. It’s not wise to wait for business growth to launch a website because a website is exactly what you need to grow and expand your business in the first place.

As soon as your website goes live, you are now making your business visible to not just local customers but to all internet users. Simply starting your website is in itself a significant step towards the expansion of your business.

Billions Of People Are On The Internet, So That’s Where Most Of Your Potential Customers Are Too.

According to Internet World Stats, there are more than 5 billion internet users globally as of 2020. Whether you’re an emerging startup planning to go global in the future, or a local service that can only serve nearby areas, you can’t deny that most of your existing and potential customers are already online. And when you think of it like that, it would be ironic that your customers are already on the internet, but your business still doesn’t have an online identity.

Even as a business owner, you too must have purchased many things online or inquired for different services on search engines, and your customers do the same. Knowing that so many people are already active in the online domain, do you still think a website is not essential for your business?

Website Creates An Impression, Identity And Brand Name, Even For Small Businesses.

A service business website is one of the most powerful tools for businesses in the modern digital era. First of all, it instantly becomes the online identity of your business. Just like your physical location, the website is your virtual address. KPMG’s 2017 report titled ‘The Truth About Online Consumers’ mentions that 55% of consumers search for online reviews about a business, and 47% of people check the official business website before they make any purchase.

Another report from Kinesis Inc, which talks about website design, states that 75% of people make their first impression or even a firm judgment about the business’ credibility just by looking at their website. The same report states that even 85% of B2B customers will do online searches about a business before purchasing goods and services.

So we’re not just exaggerating or shooting in the air. Facts, numbers, and statistics are clear evidence that having a website is a must if you want to build a solid impression about your business. Small businesses have even more to gain from their website as it can help establish their identity online and slowly move towards building a brand name.

It’s The Only Way To Reach Out To Distant Customers.

Even if you do well and expand your business successfully without a website, at one point or another, you will need to launch a site if you want to keep growing. Whether you like it or not, there’s a limit to how much you can grow and expand without a proper website.

What if you want to reach out to service areas outside of your city or another state? Can you even think of accepting customers from all over the country without a website? If you want to increase the outreach of your business and bring in customers from all areas and regions, it’s impossible to do so without a website. Unless you want to stay a small-scale local business forever, you will need a website one day no matter what.

The shift from offline to online business will become more prominent in the future as digital technology continues to grow and advance. So a website is the only way you can reach out to more customers regardless of distance and location.

Your Website Stays Live And Open 24/7.

Don’t take that literally; your website may not always be live at all times in the literal sense, and there may be server downtimes. But that’s not what we meant. Unlike your physical store, you don’t need to close your website after office hours. Your website is open for customers 24/7, whether they want to just browse or make a purchase. Through the business website, you could be making sales and income while you’re in sleep, we’re certain that many businesses actually do!

Visitors and customers can check out your products and services and even make purchases at any hour, which means that a website basically makes you open for business 24/7, and yes, this time we mean it in the literal sense.

Conclusion

We see so many business websites online these days, so some people may wonder what’s the need to convince someone about the importance of business websites. For a large corporation, having a website is indeed a must, and there’s no need to convince or emphasize that. But for small businesses, we understand that it’s not an easy decision to make. Some of you might be running a one-man business all by yourself, and in such cases, it’s challenging to maintain both a physical store and a website.

But making hard decisions is an essential part of running a business. By highlighting the importance of business websites, we hope that it gives you the motivation and the clarity of mind to take that leap, go ahead and launch your website as soon as possible. Expand your business, bring in more customers, and enjoy numerous other benefits by creating your business website right away.

That said, whether you need a one-page website or corporate website design, we are a responsive web design company you need. Contact us today to learn more about the business websites.