One of the questions most small business owners and start up entrepreneurs ask themselves is ‘Do I need a website for my business?’. This question is becoming increasingly relevant as social media companies offer more and more ways to market your business and advertise to customers within their own platforms. However, you shouldn’t rely on these, despite the large audiences they attract. Read on to find out the reasons why you still need a business website in 2022 and beyond!
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You do not own your social media business pages
Each social media company such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn regularly make changes to their platforms. This means you are not always in control of how your page will look, or how many people it will reach etc. In particular, Facebook (who also own Instagram), are constantly introducing new features and algorithm changes to their feed, which means your carefully crafted business page may not always be seen by all of your followers. Changes to the way pages look can also be undesirable, and you have little power to change it. However with your own website where you are in control. -
Having your own website gives your business credibility
People do business with people they can trust. This usually means businesses that have a well-established presence online, and several happy customers. A website is also not as easy and quick to create as a Facebook page, so it shows you have put in more time, money and effort on your business brand. People like to know who is behind a business and anyone can set up a Facebook page. Therefore having your own business website enables you to look professional and credible, generating trust with your customers from day one. - It gives you a content hub to link back to on social media
Social media is good for promoting your business, but the ultimate goal should be to get potential customers on your website so you can really sell your goods and / or services. The best way to do this is to link back to useful content on your website. Think of social media as an introduction agency, but you want your customers to spend time in your office, rather than theirs! If you are posting regular content to your website such blog posts, case studies, white papers etc then social media is a good way to get people to this content, but not the only way. Having a website also means that this content can be found via a search engine query, thus extending your reach to potential customers greatly (provided it is optimised for SEO). - You need it for local business
Most search engine queries have a local intent to them, such as ‘hairdresser near me’, in fact 46% of all searches in Google have “local intent” (Source: Search Engine Round Table). Google is very good at showing up local businesses via their Google Maps facility for these types of searches. Therefore, if you rely on local customers, you could be missing out. You will need to add your business to the map via Google Business Profile Manager and once you have created a profile it will then include a graphical link to your website which will appear on the local business listing. - A business website is a long-term investment
Your business website is likely going to be there for a while, which means you will get good return on investment. It is always there to be found and referred back to, unlike a social media ad which may only show for its paid duration. Social media feeds are also constantly refreshing, and your content may not appear for very long in front of your potential customers, if at all! Your website will still get visits via a website search, or from returning visitors who want to come back to your content. Therefore it is a much better way create more permanent and valuable content for your money.
I hope you found this blog post useful and has helped your decision as to whether to invest in a website or not for your small business. If you are ready to hire a website designer for your business then check out my web design services page for more details.
This post is written by Rachel Toy of Spirit Creative, a freelance web designer based near Leighton Buzzard. If you would like to learn more about how to improve your current website and get it right this time, call me on 01296 662172 or email rachel@spiritcreative.co.uk.