At some point when you started your business, you decided to take the plunge on setting up a website for small business. You got the domain name you wanted, you set up hosting, and whether you used a template and built it yourself, or got professional help, and your site launch. Now what? There’s a gap between actually having the site built, and optimizing it both for functionality and brand building.
There’s a reason why it’s said that your website is your only 24/7 employee. No matter how many hours a day you dedicate to running your small business, at some point you have to take a break. Websites don’t. They’re always there, any time of the day, should someone be looking for your product, service, or specific business.
In this blog we’ll cover the benefits of a website for small business and in particular some of the ways small business owners should think about their website like another team member. Because ultimately if your website is not working for you, it’s working against you.
It Can Show Things That Can’t Be Said With Words
Visuals are definitely an essential for your small business’ website that should not be overlooked. After the site load speed, visuals are what create the first impression on your website. You can go into countless details describing your product or service, but sometimes it can be best summed up with an image.
Think about how much time you usually spend on a website. Do you really go through all of its pages in great detail, reading every single point? Unlikely. That’s why it’s particularly important to make the most of visuals, people’s online behavior tends to favor image over text.
The goal with visuals on your website should be diversity but relevancy. Show your location, your product or service, perhaps some of the tools or vehicles that you use, and the people who work at your company. Focus on high quality images, but also be sure to not overdo it. This is a website not a photo album after all.
It’s Where You Can Craft Your Business’s Story
While visitors to your website are likely not reading every single word you’ve written, that does not mean you should write nothing. Make it a point to share your story, how you started your business, and what matters to your brand.
Even individual phrases such as headlines can be impactful. And it’s certainly one of the textual elements where the most effort should be invested. Even though all the information should be accurate and well-written, keep in mind that the further down or more buried the information is, the less likely someone is to read it.
When it comes to SEO practices, the textual part of your website is what matters most. Although it can be overwhelming, start by identifying relevant keywords (terms that people search) that could be relevant for your business and look to implement them across your site. That way when people are looking for those terms, the search engine will help connect the dots between that search and your site. The more you show up in relevant search results, the more people will end up on your site
It’s Where You Can Showcase the People Behind the Brand
Humanizing your brand is another small business website essential and it can be a powerful tool for your small business, and your website is a great way to do that. Give your company a human face, whether that’s you as the business owner, or even your team members. This not only builds trust in your company (because now there’s a face to it and not just a name) but it can also provide reassurance when a customer goes to your in-person location as they see a familiar face.
It’s the Pathway to Additional Off-Site Information
Just because your website is the first place where people land, that doesn’t mean it has to stop there. One of the great ways to make the most of your website and its ability to help grow your small business is by linking to other content relevant to your business. This could include your social media accounts, articles or noteworthy mentions about your business in the news, your review site, relevant associations your business is a part of, any certifications that you, your business, or team members have.
Any additional content only contributes to your business’s larger online presence. But just because these other pages or other information is out there, you cannot assume that people will scroll through the varias search results seeking them out. Your website acts as an easy direct-access pathway to just about anything and everything someone could (and should!) know about your business.
It Sells Your Brand, Even if You Don’t Offer E-Commerce
When an existing or potential customer looks your business up online, if you have a website it will almost certainly be the top search result for your business. If you don’t have a website, not only does this strongly affect your business’s credibility, but the lack of readily available information could directly affect sales.
A bare-bones website is alright as a starting point, but if that’s where your strategy stops, you really aren’t taking full advantage of everything your website could be doing to help your small business continue to grow. Again, consider your own experience online: if you land on a website that only contains a single picture, an address, and a contact form, does this really speak of the business and the quality of service that they offer? Because your website is the top result, this first impression matters.
Even if your business is not compatible with online sales, provide all the information that a potential customer will need in order to follow-through with then making an in-person purchase or contacting you to learn more about the process.
If you have an in-person location, think of the feeling that you want a customer to have when they enter your location. That is precisely what you should try to recreate with your website. Is your business more traditional and professional? Is it quirky and fun? Is it tranquil and elegant? Perhaps it’s family-friendly? Your brand is your brand both in-person and online, and consistency is extremely important.
It Allows You To Offer the Same Great Experience as you Do (or Would) Offer In-Person
A poor website experience is an immediate red flag for e-commerce. This can manifest in a few different ways: insufficient or lack of product information, a lengthy and confusing checkout experience, and general distrust in the legitimacy of the site (and therefore hesitation to actually go through with a transaction).
Whatever e-commerce platform you use, make sure the process is straightforward and easy-to use for your customers. Again, think of what would turn you away from buying on a website, and then make sure to account for all of those points. Go through the process that you offer on your website to truly understand what you’re offering your customers. If it’s long, slow, or confusing for you, then that’s exactly how it is for your customers. Additionally, offer some sort of online support to your customers in the same way that you would be there to answer additional questions if they were at your location.
It Requires Both Short-Term and Long-Term Plans
A functional website that contributes to your small business’s growth is never a “one and done” scenario. While you don’t have to be making changes every single day, you should still have some sort of game plan in terms of the content on your site, and the return you’d like to see. This could be tracking your on-site sales, site traffic, how your website is ranking in search results (and in comparison to your competitors), or the number of people contacting you via your site. Be sure to have a maintenance plan as well where you check through all of the content for accuracy and make sure that there are no broken links.
Ultimately while the importance of a small business website is undeniable, it’s the additional time, thought, and effort that turns it from simply a glorified contact us page, to a tool working for your business. Without this additional consideration it’s like having a tool in your toolbox and not being entirely sure how to use it, or simply not using it at all.
