There is nothing permanent except change – a saying we’re hearing too often nowadays. Without the slightest piece of evidence, many people claim that social media has made your website obsolete.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Even while reading through the article, you’ll realize, you need a website now more than ever.
Regardless of the industry you’re in, or the purpose of having a website, you need to have an online presence in the form of a website to grow your brand.
For people wondering if they need a tiny piece of online real estate, here are 9 reasons why you must have a website in 2021.
1. A Website Is the Need of the Hour
Whether you’re a solopreneur or a multi-national company, you’re bound to have a physical place of business. A website performs a similar role in the online space. Today, every consumer expects businesses to have a website.
Before the digital era, visiting cards and yellow pages helped the consumers connect with businesses.
Sadly, nothing much could be gathered about a business, except their contact number and address.
In contrast, business websites divulge everything that potential customers want to know. On the World Wide Web, customers don’t have to run pillar to post collecting bits and pieces of information.
Do you want information about a product or service? Type the URL or search Google and head straight to the website.
Furthermore, around 60% of people expect brands to publish content about their business. Also, more than 50% of them visit websites to learn about products and services.
2. Improve Your Brand Image.
Nowadays, businesses of all sizes and shapes are investing in boosting their online presence.
Plus, websites have become a fundamental requirement in all industries. So much so, consumers might even wonder how serious you’re about business if you don’t have a website.
It won’t matter that you have better products or offer better service, you’ll be always at a disadvantage. Your competitors – with nothing more than a basic website – will already have an edge over you.
You’ll have to rely on Yelp, Foursquare, and other review portals to boost your image among the customers.
Just by setting up a basic website, you’ll be checking many of the right boxes.
A website will allow you to showcase your expertise, explain how your product/service can help, and display reviewers and testimonials to influence the target audience.
Bear in mind that 9 out of 10 consumers use reviews/testimonials to make the purchasing decision.
3. Get Your Message out There
You have very little control over the opinions of others about your business.
That said before purchasing any product or service, consumers want to know not only about the product/service but also about the business.
You won’t find a better tool than a website to present your story to the audience.
Brochures, pamphlets, and other such marketing materials are things of the past. They are not as effective as a website in spreading your vision, mission, and message.
On any given day, millions of searches are performed by the users, looking for companies, products, services, and information.
If you’re not willing to share your narrative with the audience, guess who will benefit? Yes, your competitors. They are ready to charm your prospective customers with their stories.
4. Your Website Helps You Reach a Wider Audience
Even during the peak season, at best a brick-and-mortar business will receive only a handful of visitors and inquiries.
Compare this to a business website that gets thousands or even millions of visitors every day. With just a simple step – having your website – you can unlock the full potential of your business.
Some might argue that having a website alone doesn’t guarantee higher traffic. While that is true, having a website is the first and most important step towards achieving the goal.
Moreover, you need a website to execute marketing tactics – such as blog posts and videos – that bring scores of visitors.
5. A Website Increases Customer Engagement
Brands that want consumers to take interest in their products or services must delight and engage. This they can do by offering the information they seek.
Having a website allows you to implement several strategies to keep the visitors on the site longer. The longer they stay, the higher the chance of conversion into leads, and later into paying customers.
You can engage and entertain the visitors with videos, answer their questions through blogs and FAQs, and solve their problems via 24/7 chat.
None of these things would be possible without a website. Moreover, you can do all these – help customers and share information that’s of value – without spending much of your time online.
6. Your Website Maximizes Your ROI
Compared to creating a physical infrastructure for your business, having a website is a low-cost and high-return option.
At present, developing a basic website is almost free. Website builder tools such as WordPress, Wix, etc. allow you to create and host a site in just minutes.
Even if you purchase a separate domain, hosting, and outsource the technical stuff, you’ll still spend less on the website than a brick-and-mortar store.
The same is true for your business marketing as well. With a shoestring budget, you can optimize the site and market your business to tens and thousands of potential customers.
7. A Website Allows You to Run Business from Anywhere and at Any Time
Taking the business online means you’re not bound to a physical location.
Plus, there is no restriction on business hours. Even at 2 in the morning, while you’re sound asleep, your website is engaging people and providing them with the information they seek.
A website is like a non-tiring assistant who is working around the clock while you have other pressing business matters to attend to.
For example, on average, physical retail stores stay open for 8 hours a day.
With an e-commerce store, you’ll be saying goodbye to the ‘Closed’ sign once and for all. Your e-commerce store will be open for business 24/7, thus increasing sales potential by 3 times.
8. Social Media Is No Substitute for Websites
Social media can never be an alternative to a website. Businesses can use the various social media platforms to drive traffic, but you need a permanent place of business online and that place is your website.
Moreover, according to an Infinite Dial Report, the most popular social media platforms saw a steady decline in users in every age group and demography in the United States.
Although a large percentage of the online population still uses social media, the dip in the user base can’t be ignored.
We can attribute the slide to three reasons: an increase in fake news and growing negativity, distrust of social media (privacy issues and monetizing of user data), and a rise in the number of social media platforms.
Social media is an ever-changing medium. In just a decade, we have seen new platforms rise, grow, evolve, and fall.
Businesses have too much at stake to trust such an uncertain medium. Even in 2021, businesses need security that a website offers to achieve online success.
9. A Website Helps You Provide Better Customer Service
Building a website is a step towards effective customer service.
Customers with queries about the company or products don’t have to wait for hours or even minutes after sending an email. You can solve basic problems and answer queries instantly with AI-powered chatbots.
You can also use chatbots as marketing tools by showing products, highlighting their best features, and even recommending options during conversations.
Earlier, ordering a product through phone or mail was an exercise filled with uncertainties.
Customers worried about the quality, physical attributes, hidden costs, prompt delivery, etc.
Orders that took days are fulfilled within hours; thanks to e-commerce websites.
Nowadays, customers can see the product they’re buying, observe the product in action, and track the order.
Final Thoughts
Having a website gives the best chance to stay in front of your audience, tell your brand story, help with their problems, earn their trust, and build long-term relationships.
If you’re still here, reading this line, and not looking for ways to create a website, then you’re already lagging behind your competition.
Hurry up! Build a great website and get on the fast track to online success.
