Intro
When starting a business you look into all the different options for getting your name known. One of the things you may consider is a website. This is something that may not seem all that necesarry to building a business right away, but I’m hopefully going to show you the reasons why you should consider it and the benefits to doing it right. I know hearing this from a Web Developer is like asking a librarian why you should read books rather than watching films but my opinion is free from bias. I have listened to and spoken to other small businesses about websites and discussed why they have chosen to own a website. Now the first thing small businesses consider when taking the step into the big world is price. Everything has one and you need to find the one you’re going to be able to afford. So let’s ask the question:
How much does it cost?
It’s the most important question a small business could ask at this stage, because we’re never going to be able to afford anything really expensive. Well the good news is websites don’t cost much at all! Sure a bespoke website may cost an arm and a leg but for a small business starting out there are good options to go for before considering a bespoke design. The first option for creating a website is a service like Wix which is perfect for a small business. This company offers their services for free which is amazing for a small business just starting out. They don’t come without their limitations though which can be a deal breaker for some people. The first stipulation for a free site is that the web address will look something like this: https://amias.wixsite.com This is non-negotiable with a free site which is understandable. They’d want free advertising for their company with a non-paying customer. The second drawback for the service is that you’ll have to design and build the website yourself using their drag and drop style editor, this can be a faff if you don’t know what you’re doing when building a well designed website. On the other hand when you pay for their service which, at the time of writing this post, is £4 for the basic package, you’ll be able to customise your domain name to be whatever you like; for example: https://amias.dev. This, along with 24 hr support is a great way to start your business. With Wix they have a freelance pool of developers if you ever are in need of help so they’re only a few clicks away from being able to sort you out.
Why spend the money?
So why should you choose anything other than Wix? Well this is the biggest drawback of this online tool. Their service is very limited and doesn’t scale well. What does this mean? Lets put it in a more understandable term.
Say Karys has just started selling homemade handbags. She’s only a very small company so she makes the bags by hand and shows them off in a very small store. When people heared about her handbags, they all decided they and their entire family would like a handbag. Now she’s got more business, I don’t think her business is going to be able to “scale” properly. How does she make enough handbags to keep up with demand without the right equipment? And how does she sell enough handbags with a small shop?
This is what you’ll struggle to get with a service like this. With less control over the website and it’s tools you will struggle to grow the website to suit your businesses evergrowing needs. With this in mind we shall look at other services such as WordPress which acts as a very similar sort of service. You are able to open a website for free again with this service, same stipulations of a website with “.wordpress.com” trailing your business name. But the difference is that, with it being much more friendly to the website developers such as me, you see a wide variety of what are called “Plugins”, that a community of programmers have built for you to use. What are “Plugins” I hear you ask?
Well a Plugin is like an app on your computer or mobile phone, your device will run without that app, but without it you can’t do as much with your device. An example of a plugin is WP-Forms which allows you to add highly customisable forms to your website.
Authenticity
I know I have been talking about the benefits to your bank account but we haven’t discussed the most important features of a website. Why it’s beneficial to you and your business. To begin with I’ll talk about authenticity. The authenticity of a business is decided by how easy it is to find out more about something before you get in touch with them. How many times have you chosen one restaurant over another because you couldn’t find a the opening times or a well layed out menu? A website helps a customer realise that what they’re looking at is genuine.
Lets consider another friendly face, we’ll call him Joel, is looking for somewhere to buy a few potted plants for his house. His first choice would be the garden center, but he remembered last time it was really expensive so he’s going to try out some other places. He opens his preferred search engine, most likely Google, and he searches “Plants near me“. Using the Knowledge Panels we touched on last week he was able to bring up a list of the closest green-fingered shops close to him. The three which came up as closer all look the same to him. But theirs one big difference, only two of them have images to show what they offer and only one of those two has a website, which lets him see the opening times and contact the store directly. This is the one he’s decided to choose because he felt it was a more professional and trustworthy shop to visit, and all because he could view their website and look at a portfolio of plants they keep.
Getting new customers
We all know how useful the internet is, we can now do anything from booking events to buying things we don’t need. This tool can be used to your advantage to get more customers to buy your products. Whether you sell physical items or virtual services. A well designed website will be able to take passing customers and entice them through, all the way until they finally press confirm on an order or send an email to contact you. your website can help funnel new and existing customers to use your services which will increase how much you earn from your business and also cancel out the small fee you pay for your website.
User Journey
Lets talk briefly about a user journey and why creating one of these will help you design your website. A user journey is a document which outlines how your customers will use your website to find out what they want to find out. When you build a user journey you will need to think like your customers. Why are they on your website and what are they trying to find. Once you know this it is as simple as placing Call to Action (CTA’s) buttons in strategic places to get the curious mind interested in what that button has to offer. I’m making it sound simple and because it is simple. When you’ve put yourself in your customers shoes you’ll be able to speak their language and understand what they’re thinking at all times.
Summary
To summarise this blog post because I may have waffled, and no one wants that, I will bullet-point the important parts I have outlined. I will start this summary by saying this is in no way an exaustive list of pros and cons for owning a website, but it’s a good start for understanding the importance of looking into getting one.
Pros
- Cheap
- Most places offer free websites
- Website services can be free
- The barebones elements of a website are cheap and affordable even on the tightest of budgets
- Help authenticate your business, both physical and virtual
- Boost customer traffic and can encourage returning customers
Cons
- Can be a faff to maintain
- Takes time to become a well-ranked website
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