Many small companies run on a shoestring budget. I’m a small business owner myself. I know. Every single purchase a small business owner makes has to be evaluated and measured to ensure that it is a necessary expense. Essentially not just a want, but a true need. So when many small business owners are asked the question of do they NEED a website, they would probably tell you “no”. Are they right? Sometimes, but most often that’s wrong. In today’s day and age, a website is not a want, it’s a true need. Here’s why. When was the last time you pulled out a phone book to look up a company’s phone number, or address, or even to find a type of business? If your answer is anytime in the last 5 years, you are probably one in a million. We don’t even have a phone book in my house anymore. So how do you look up information now? Yup, that’s right. On your phone, or tablet, or computer. Well, guess what. If your business isn’t listed there, you just lost a potential customer.
Does My Company Need a Website?
Is gaining a new customer a want or a need for your business. If it’s only a want, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might not be in business long. Now let’s take it one step further. When you are online and you are looking for…let’s say a plumber, you go to Google, or Bing or Yahoo! probably. You enter something like “plumber Frederick, MD” and look to see what results come back. You check probably the first 5-10 results that come back, right? Do you go to page 2? No, probably not. So, you probably want to pick someone from that first 5-10 results that came back. So if the links are to Yelp or Yellow Pages or Super Pages or the like, do you open those links? Or do you pass down through them until you get to the real plumber’s website? Most people might look at Yelp, Yellow Pages, or Super Pages, but they are also going to look to see if that company has a website. Maybe for contact information, maybe just for more information. But if you don’t have a website, you probably lost that customer.
Okay, so there are two huge points for why you need a website. But does everyone need a website? No, of course not. So who doesn’t really need a website? Businesses who are always a convenience business, or who don’t have customer contact. Sound weird? Yes, but there really are those types of businesses. What’s an example? Well, when’s the last time you searched for a mini-mart? Yeah, probably not recently. Unless you are on a road trip and desperately want a mini-mart and don’t know where to find one. Can this type of business benefit from a website? Absolutely! But they are an example of a business where a website would be a want, rather than a need. Websites are one of the primary tools a business owner has to drive traffic to their business. A website is not just a decorative artifact. It is a primary source of new traffic for business. If you aren’t treating your website like that, you might be doing your business a disservice. If you think that you might need to pay more attention to your website, contact me. I can help ensure your business presence rocks.
