Photo of laptop with small business website on screen.

Does my small business need a website?

5 reasons you are telling yourself “No!” debunked!

“I have a Facebook page and I’m doing fine.”

Social media is amazing for small businesses. It’s a way for you to connect directly with your followers and it’s easy for them to help you spread the word about your business, products, and services. However, as the business model of all social media platforms is changing, it is getting harder for small businesses to be seen and heard in the “pay-to-play” culture. Social Media is a shared media type, where you do not really “own” your followers, the platform does. This means they decide which of your followers sees your messages and when. Since Facebook’s 2017 algorithm update, it has been reported that business pages’ post reach is averaging only 6% of page followers, that’s 6 people seeing your posts for every 100 that like your page. A website is owned media, a source of information that you control the message on. You decide when and how often people see your updates because you own the relationship directly to the consumer.

“All my business comes from word of mouth.”

Although this may be true, consumers will still research a business that was recommended to them before engaging with that business. According to LSA’s (Local Search Association) April 2017 report, “The Digital Consumer Study,” 63 percent of consumers primarily use a company’s website to find and engage with businesses. If you do not have a website, you are not hitting their search screens, and you are losing potential clients and customers.

“I have a free site that’s working just fine.”

Did you know that 52% of all web traffic worldwide now comes from mobile devices? (Statista, 2020) If your free site is not mobile optimized…and most are not…you are losing out on many prospective clients and customers. Additionally, 88% of consumers who conduct local business searches on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. (Nectafy). In addition, free website services tend to use canned content and themes, making every site look the same, along with duplicate content being marked down in search rankings.

“I don’t sell products online, I don’t need a website”

Consumers use technology to do their research prior to purchase. We know this because search drives in-person visits – 78% of location-based mobile searches result in an offline purchase. (Source: SEO Tribunal). Google reports that 84% of local business sources is category-based, not direct searches of a business name, which shows us that consumers are using the internet to find who to purchase from even when they know what they want.

“I don’t have time to manage a website.”

After the initial design and build phase, which typically takes 8-10 weeks for a small business website, the day to day time investment is small. When you use a company like Social Inclination, we take care of the backend updates and maintenance of your site as part of our services. Additionally, we include up to an hour of content update services every month with your low monthly management fee. If you would like to sell your products online, we can set up inventory systems that will actually save you time, instead of add to your workload

Let us help!

Social Inclination specializes in small businesses. With our web design services, we can help you get your new website up and driving sales and leads to you quickly. We use the WordPress platform to build mobile responsive, SEO optimized sites that are easy to update and will get you found online. We will provide hosting and management services as well as training you to make updates if desired are all part of every build. Reach out today to set up a free consultation!