If you have just launched a business, then the question of how to market that business is going to be key in your mind. At some point, the question of digital marketing is going to come up and this is when a lot of small businesses make their first mistake by saying “we’re just a small business, we don’t need a website. A Facebook page will be just fine.” Here’s why this is wrong.
This is a contributed post. Please refer to my disclosure for more information.
Social media isn’t enough
Yes, social media is a good marketing tool. However, you don’t have any control over how you format your content there and you are at the whims of changes to the platform at any point. For instance, since Facebook reduced businesses’ ability to have their posts appear on the front page feed of the site’s users, it has become a lot harder for businesses to get traffic through the site organically. A website gives you your own space that’s yours for as long as you can pay the server rental, where you can craft your marketing message however you like.
The best opportunity to brand yourself
What’s more, if you’re trying to create a specific brand image, story, or feeling, then you’re going to have a hard time using it to stand apart on social media. Your account or page is going to look a lot like every other business page. However, with the help of a web design team, you can make sure that your website stands well and truly apart from the competition. You can craft your own image, your own user experience, to make sure that your brand is more memorable and, thus, more likely to keep people coming back.
It’s the seedbed of your marketing plan
A website serves as your online home and can be the nexus of all of your other digital marketing methods. You can use search engine optimisation to make sure that you’re reaching people through Google, one of the most widely trafficked sites on the net, and bringing them into the site. You can use the site as a host for content marketing, which can play a huge role in the marketing funnel. Your website is the key to so many other highly effective forms of marketing that don’t work unless you have it.
Your brand needs it
Aside from the fact that you can use your website to fully encapsulate your brand design, you should also be aware that having a website or not can reflect on your brand itself. If you don’t have a website because you’re “only a small business”, then that’s how your customers are going to see you. Not professional enough or legitimate enough to have a website. It can give you a real disadvantage when it comes to making an impression if a customer tries to look up your website and finds nothing.
Nowadays, a website is the bare minimum online presence that you need. Not only is it more effective as a marketing tool, but your customers are going to expect it.