Top 5 Reasons Local Business Must Have A Website in 2020

If you are starting a new business or trying to establish a start-up company, then you must know the importance of a website for your brand. Having a digital platform to showcase your skills and products will not only boost sales but also create an online identity.

Many believe that small or local businesses do not require a website since brick and mortar stores will do the job. But in reality, it is necessary for even local businesses to have an online identity and social media presence to reach a wider audience. People are not willing to visit physical stores due to traffic, crowd and unproductive time. They instead order products online and visit a bunch of websites to get their desired commodities.

Most local businesses focus on a certain part of the world and they assume that there won’t be much demand for their goods globally. But, because of rapid migration for employment needs, most people have settled in different parts of the world and demands for local produce and products is ever increasing. If you want your brand to be popular and successful, then having a website can be the best way to make your dream come true.

Here are a few reasons to create a business website in 2020,

1. Cater to Digital Customers

Six out of ten customers look for companies and brands that have an online presence to purchase a product. According to Forbes, 58% of global population use the internet and 75% of consumers search for the website, product reviews and prices online before making a purchase from physical stores.

If you want your local business to shine, then have a website to cater to digital customers as they can decide the success of your brand. With a digital platform, you can attract plenty of potential customers and market your products every second globally.

2. Promote New and Existing Products

It takes a lot of money and time to design and print brochures and pamphlets every time you create a new product. But with a website, you can add-on products and showcase your existing products without spending extra money.

51% of people prefer brands that promote their products online and expect business to display their products on their professional website.

Almost 70% of people go back to previously visited websites to rethink their decision and the chances of making a purchase is high with a website. So, make a business website to promote your existing and newer products online in 2020.

3. Become Accessible 24/7

If you snooze, you lose in this modern world. Customers want instant answers and solutions to their queries which can be challenging in the long run. Forbes data show that more than half of the customers expect companies to return their calls and messages within an hour even on weekends.

When you have a website with a simple technology such as Chat-bot, your brand becomes accessible round the clock. And it’s predicted that virtual assistants will handle 25% of customer service by 2020. Therefore, if your business wants to be in the race, build a website ASAP!

4. Enhance Your Credibility

Humans have two personalities in the digital world today; a virtual and a real one! A few years back, split personality was a disorder but not anymore. Nowadays, everybody thinks they may state their own opinions on various platforms without any permission. And honestly, most of it is not true.

This is scary because 60% of customers read reviews about a brand first before even trying it out. It doesn’t matter if you’re the most popular restaurant in town, if there are any bad reviews about your brand online, your business is doomed.

A website can be the best option for local business to create a good impression on potential customers. When you have the right information on your business website, you can automatically enhance your brand credibility.

5. Toot Your Own Horn

For a start-up or a local business, marketing your brand is the only way to achieve success. Increase your brand awareness by designing a user-friendly yet tech-savvy business website.

If you want to attract millennial’s, then design a website to toot your own horn because 63% of them interact with a brand online first. That’s almost one third of the total global population.

53% of customers don’t recommend a brand if there’s no website or has a poorly designed one. Imagine how many customers you are losing every minute by not having a website for your local business.

Word-to-mouth popularity is also inclined towards a business having a strong online presence. So, it’s time to create a Google presence for your brand in 2020!

Why not kick start your new year 2020 by sending us a message to build your business website? Let’s begin the year together!

Why do I need a website ?

  1. First and foremost, a website makes it easy for potential customers, investors, existing customers etc. to know and understand  more about your products/services.
  2. There is always a possibility of selling your products/services online. It is available 24×7 and it is accessible even to people who cannot possibly visit your offline establishment.
  3. Even if you do not wish to sell your products/services online, your website could be an excellent medium to reach out to prospective customers. It could be your salesman who never sleeps !
  4. A website is like an extended, interactive business card which wont get lost in your client’s drawer or closet. You can showcase your products or services or even your previous work. You can have your client testimonials. Best of all, you can update information and the whole world can access it, instantly !
  5. A professionally designed website with properly planned out content can create a very solid first impression.
  6. Chances are that your competitors already have a website and web presence. You might be losing a sizable business to them just because your prospective customers searching online don’t even know you exist !

It makes perfect sense to have a website in today’s internet centric world. People like to search for information on a product/service before they decide to purchase it. If planned and marketed properly, your website can increase your leads and eventually sales.

I would love to read your thoughts on this. Please leave a comment below.

Biggest Web Design Mistakes

Your website may be causing some serious loss in your business, without you even knowing it ! Bad web design is known to put off potential customers away. It is very easy to navigate to some other website if your website does not seem to solve your customer’s problems.

Allow me to give you a simple analogy. Let us assume there is a new super-market in your neighborhood.

The super-market

  • is difficult to reach
  • is unorganized (nothing is in the place where you expect it to be)
  • is not clean
  • has unfriendly and annoying staff
  • looks unsafe and untrustworthy
  • plays really loud and annoying music

Would you like to shop at such a place ? I doubt you will. Even if you enter once, you will make sure you don’t return. And you will ensure that all your friends , colleagues and family members stay away from this super-market, won’t you ?  Effectively, the super-market has lost a lot of potential customers.

And the super-market owner probably wonders why his business is failing. Why the number of visitors is low and why visitors are not returning ?

If you have read our previous post on Important characteristics of effective websites you will know what exactly an effective website should have. In this post, we explore the opposite side of the same coin.

Web Design has been around for a while now. But, many web designers continue to use outdated methods and many repeat the same mistakes over and over.

What are the most commonly repeated mistakes ?

  • Forgetting that people don’t care for your business or website :
    If your website does not talk about your customer’s problems, you are doing something wrong. Please remember people do not care for your business or website, they are on your website to solve some specific problem of theirs. Do you go to the super-market because you need to buy something or do you go there because you care for the business or the store ?
  • Not making it clear what your website is all about :
    Your website should clearly and obviously make clear what it is about. If you do not make this clear, your customer can easily navigate away to some other website that is easy and clear to follow.
  • Using bad design elements :
    Without any doubt, a website has  to look appealing. The layout has to be simple and neat. The text and background colors have to be properly contrasted. The images should not appear too stretched or too compressed.  People hate to see badly rendered images. Overall, the website has to look professional.
  • Using a flash intro unnecessarily :
    Trust me, this is a very big put off. Flash intro used to be very cool. But, it ended up being used so badly and in places where it was clearly not needed that it lost its sheen. Would you like to see a cool presentation about the super-market every time you enter it ? Won’t it be annoying and a waste of time ? Avoid this.
  • Bad Navigation/Organization and not searchable:
    It is very important to make sure that your website is easily navigable. Imagine how difficult it would be to shop for a particular item if the super-market has no proper organization ? Navigation or Organization is really important.  Also make sure you have a search mechanism on your websites that help users find exactly what they are looking for. This is a very ignored facet of web designing.
  • Not reachable easily:
    Unless you are a business like Microsoft or Apple, it is very unlikely that your customers will remember your web address. This means that your website has to be easily searchable through major search engines. Your website should be ranked top for search keywords relevant to your business. This is easier said than done, but it pays if you plan for this from the day you start designing your website.

It will certainly help your business if you keep these points in mind when you get a website designed for your business.

Do a favor to your business and customers and get your website designed by professionals who understand your needs and who help you to improve your business by improving your web presence.

Benefits of getting your website designed professionally

There are close to 200 million websites online today and this number is growing faster than you can imagine. Everyday hundreds of new websites are springing up. More and more companies are getting an online presence. Where does your website stand among this clutter ?

It has to stand out
Today, it is more of a requirement than a luxury to have a website that is crafted carefully to make it stand out. Your website has to reflect the kind of products/services you deal with.

It has to capture attention
People in todays information abundant age, do not spend much time on a website if it is not immediately appealing or solving their problems.

It has to look and be credible
There are many websites which promise and then under-deliver. There is no point in having a website that looks like a rock-star and delivers like a wannabe. This is a big put-off.

It has to be easy to manage
You should be able to manage your website with ease. You should be able to make minor changes without having to call your designer every time.

It has to be easily searchable
One of the largest sources of traffic are search engines. If your website is not search engine friendly, then you are losing a huge opportunity. Many web designers overlook this aspect of your website.

A professional web designing company makes sure that your website is designed to stand out, looks credible and is communicating your message clearly and effectively.

How can we help you improve your business ?

We have worked with many small businesses and helped them develop websites that have helped them reach more clients. We design websites that are not only search engine friendly, but also user friendly.

Important characteristics of effective websites

A website is effective if it provides the right information to the right audience. User interface is definitely important, but should not be too flashy.  People do not visit websites to enjoy user interfaces. They look for information or solutions to their problems.

1) Effective Message (Content) : An effective website is the one which has solid, useful and note-worthy content. People come to your website to solve their own problems. Your website needs to have the content that at least helps them a bit. Say you are searching for information on “D.I.Y. plumbing”. Would you like to visit a site which claims to solve your plumbing problems, but actually provides nothing useful or insightful ? I would not.

2) Effective Design : A good design is one that pleases the eye and creates good first impression. And Effective design is one that helps in carrying the message across and is not obtrusive. In other words, it does not distract rather it engages. It offers them easy ways to navigate or find the content they are looking for.

3) Availability : A website is no good if it is not available at all times. Make sure you invest in a good web-host. You never know when potential clients will visit your website.

4) Searchability : Make sure your website is easily findable. Though there are lot of factors that make your website searchable, good content is one of the most important factors. If your content is good, your readers themselves will spread the word, share links etc and bring in more traffic.