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Are you a business person? Do you earn a living by getting people to patronize you and buy your products or services? Are you experiencing little to no growth in your business? Research has shown that 6 out of 10 customers expect brands to have an online presence. Why wait for customers to come to you when you can reach them on their phones at home? If you don’t own a website for your business, or maybe you’re thinking of getting one but haven’t gotten around to it, keep reading to discover why you absolutely should.

1.   Your website speaks for you, even when you can’t be physically present:

Websites give your business an online presence 24/7. This means that customers can always have access to you when you’re unavailable and even outside business hours. It’s just like having an ATM. Before them, we had to go to the bank to withdraw money over the counter every single time. In case of emergencies at night, there was no hope of getting money from the bank or making any transaction for that matter no matter how urgent.

However, with the advent of the Internet and Automated Teller Machines, you can get money anywhere, anytime. In the same fashion, your business is practically always available even in the dead of the night. Customers can easily patronize you anywhere, anytime, and can even learn more about your business without ever speaking to you.

2.   Advertisement and information:

Customers can easily get information about your business, working hours, products available, appraisals, testimonies and reviews, delivery information, contacts, and social media handles and answers to so many other questions without having to stress either you the business owner or themselves.

Nowadays, people appreciate quick, timely information and your website will allow them to have that knowledge about your business. Because it can also show reviews and testimonies from previous customers, it is also a good way to attract new customers and advertise the brand without having to speak to people directly.

3.   It makes your business more trustworthy:

In these times, having a website is as crucial as having a phone number or an email address for your business. If a salesperson stops you as you walk along the street to ask you to buy something and like most people you say “Oh I don’t have the money now”, most would respond with: “That’s alright, do you mind taking my phone number and social media handles so you can give me a call when you want to buy?”

Looking through their catalogue online would probably make you more confident about patronizing that business. That is what a website does for you. It gives your business that credibility and trust that words can never really give you.

4.   Cost Reduction:

Selling your goods or services online directly to customers removes the cost of maintenance and upkeep of a physical shop like rent, employees’ salaries, and other utilities. This cost reduction enables you to reduce your prices and gives you a better chance of winning over customers. In addition to saving money, it saves time.

Think about this scenario, you’re in a new city, looking for makeup or a hairstylist. Naturally, you don’t know where to find one. You go to google and type “Best hairstylists in so and so city” and get a thousand and one search results. That’s what a website does for you; saves you and your potential customer the time and money that will be spent looking for solutions to problems that can be encountered with physical stores.

5.   Expansion and Growth:

WWW. The worldwide web. The keywords here are worldwide. What does this mean for your business? It means as long as there is an internet connection, because of your website, everybody is a potential customer. Barriers and hurdles caused by distance are broken.

Amazon delivers to Nigeria all the way from the US, Africans make use of Apple’s iPhone and so many business owners sell their products to people in other countries because of websites. Having your website enables you to reach a wider range of people; much, much wider than you would have reached without one.

6.   Feedback:

Of course, feedback is always necessary for a business owner. Reviews, complaints, things to be worked on, all these can be delivered very easily using your website. A customer who finds fault with something in your business can easily complain using your website and keep their anonymity if they so wished.

They can also send in messages showing satisfaction or expressing gratitude without having to come to you directly. This feedback can give you insight on what to change and what to improve on because the goal as always is the customer’s satisfaction.

In general, a website is a great addition to your brand. It gives it that modern edge that a lot of people want to see lately. A good business moves with the times to ensure longevity and continuity, even in the absence of the business owner.

How do you think a website can help you? Share your thoughts!