Your website is your most important digital marketing asset. It’s where you present yourself to the world, it’s what people will see when they search for you online and it’s the first place they should go when they want to learn more about what you do.

Your website is also one of the most cost-effective ways to reach new customers. It’s easy to create a great website and promote it through SEO, social media and blogging. As a result, it’s no wonder that so many businesses are focusing on their websites as an effective way to grow their business.

Here are some key reasons why everyone should have a website:

Your Website is Your First Impression

Much like when you first walk into a store, your website gives you the opportunity to impress your visitors and showcase exactly what you have to offer. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve seen multi-million dollar companies that have websites that look like they were built in the ‘90s! If a website isn’t mobile friendly, only has a few basic pages or doesn’t effectively communicate your value propositions, then you are definitely leaving money on the table. 

The worst part is that when I see websites that are in dire need of a revamp, people normally don’t even know how many customers they are losing because they don’t have the most basic website tracking capabilities.

The truth is, even if you have a physical location where customers can visit your store, most likely they are visiting your website long before they step foot in your store, and if you offer goods and/or services without a customer-facing location then your website without a doubt needs to function as a business tool that converts visitors into customers.

Your Website is Your Salesperson

Long gone are the days of websites simply providing basic information on what your business does. In today’s digital age, a website must be capable of leading visitors through several (if not all) stages of the customer journey.

When a potential customer arrives at your website, it must first answer the basic questions that they are looking to solve. After that, it should lead them down a path that explains exactly why they should choose your business to solve the problem they are facing.

This is accomplished by a strategic use of text, images, videos, infographics, statistics, testimonials, customer success stories, case studies and a multitude of other tactics all while providing a visually appealing and easy to navigate site for your visitors.

Your website is an opportunity to establish yourself as an expert in your industry or niche by providing valuable content such as case studies and tutorials for others who want to learn from your experience.

Build Trust with Potential Customers: A well-designed website will help build trust with potential customers because it shows them how professional you are by displaying your logo and other branding elements that represent who you are as a business.

You Website can be a Powerful Marketing Tool

Marketing can be expensive. Whether it’s SEM, PPC, PPL, email or any other form of digital marketing, there is no shortage of ways to spend your money driving traffic to your website. However, as I’ve highlighted in other posts, this money can easily be wasted if you don’t have a website that converts visitors into customers. 

The most important metric you can understand when it comes to your website is its conversion rate. How many visitors come to your site versus how many take the action you want them to take. Once you have a firm grasp on that number you can begin to understand the journey your visitors are taking on your site and where and when they may be leaving.

This is where content comes into play. Not only can you begin to create more engaging content to help convert visitors into customers, but also your content can help drive more traffic organically through SEO.

The key is quality over quantity. So many companies charge exorbitant fees to help you rank your website on web searches. At the end of the day just make sure your website is providing authentic and informational content to your visitors on a consistent basis.  

The Takeaway

Potential clients will look at your website and make a judgment on your professionalism and industry knowledge. So make sure you’re providing an up-to-date site that looks good, is easy to navigate, mobile friendly and informative.

That’s it.