{"id":45526,"date":"2021-01-01T14:01:22","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T07:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/act.com\/why-every-small-business-needs-a-website\/"},"modified":"2023-03-21T10:50:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T17:50:12","slug":"why-every-small-business-needs-a-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/products.act.com\/en-gb\/why-every-small-business-needs-a-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Revitalise Your Small Business Part 1: Why Every Small Business Needs a Website"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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For many small businesses and entrepreneurs, simply surviving 2020 was a victory in itself. But looking ahead to 2021, which will hopefully be a more prosperous year for everyone, now may be the time to put your marketing efforts on more solid ground. The first step? If your business doesn\u2019t have a website yet, consider putting that at the top of your\u00a02021 to-do list<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While the pandemic took its toll on many businesses, for others, it created opportunities to pivot careers (or entire businesses) into a whole new market. For example, one entrepreneur who provided AirBnB property management services needed to recalibrate her marketing strategy after the global travel market collapsed due to COVID shutdowns. During the pandemic slowdown, she instead offered home improvement services to attract new customers and retain existing clients, which has helped her stay afloat until travel and tourism can resume.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Many entrepreneurs like her have typically relied on\u00a0social media pages<\/a>, or even a list of WhatsApp contacts to connect with new and existing customers. For many, they see a website as just one more thing to maintain, and perhaps without a clear benefit. Some believe their social media presence basically does what a website would, while also being far easier to update and maintain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

However, without a website, small business owners are missing out on delivering a more robust and customised customer experience. While some social media platforms like\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0do offer tools that enable businesses to coordinate, schedule, plan, and boost their marketing campaigns, it\u2019s important to understand the key advantages of having a website vs. just a social media presence.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Top Four Benefits of a Dedicated Business Website<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1.<\/strong> Maintain control.<\/strong>\u00a0Although social media profiles are easy to set up and maintain, it\u2019s important to think of them as marketing tools, not websites. Your own website, on the other hand, should be the central hub that supports all of your customer operations such as an online store, accounts, customer service, digital marketing, and more.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2. Increase revenue opportunities.<\/strong>\u00a0Simply put, having a website makes it easier for customers to purchase your goods and services. You can set up your own eCommerce store and sell directly to current and potential customers. With just a social media page, customers must take the extra step of finding and following a link to another site that houses your store. With a website, you can literally offer a \u201cone-stop shop.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

3.<\/strong> Drive more awareness and traffic.<\/strong>\u00a0Although social media sites provide an excellent tool to share content, attract customer testimonials and referrals, and establish an online presence, websites often come up higher in search engine results due to their relevance. Plus, with a good search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy, you can quickly climb higher in Google search results for relevant keywords related to your business, products, and services.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

4<\/strong>. Establish an online \u201chome base.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Sometimes it seems like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have been around forever, but who remembers what happened to MySpace? The point is, the world\u2019s biggest and most popular social media platforms today may barely exist in a few years. Competitors will surely emerge and potentially dominate the market. Keeping up with the most trendy and popular platforms can be a full-time job in itself, whereas a single website enables you to maintain a consistent, centralised focus regardless of how many social media platforms come and go.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Want to build a website but don\u2019t know where to start?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n