Why You Need a Professional Website For Your Small Business

Why You Need a Professional Website For Your Small Business

Guest Post By: Rose of Rose Benedict Design

Hi! I’m Rose, the owner and designer at Rose Benedict Design. I am a brand and web designer for creatives and service providers who own small businesses. I’m hopping onto Teai’s blog to share my perspective on why a professional website is important, and why you need one for your small business.

So let’s get started…

Reason #1: Social media can’t do everything.

Social media is awesome. I use Instagram for my business, pretty much daily, and I love that it helps me feel connected with other small business owners and clients. The problems are that 1) Social media can go down at any time, 2) Your account could get hacked, and 3) Social media doesn’t curate your services/portfolio the way that a professional website does. It makes your potential clients/customers have to hunt to find your services and portfolio, whereas you have control over how photos and content are showcased on your website.

Reason #2: A professional-looking website boosts credibility.

According to a study by WebFX, 75% of users determine a business’s credibility based on its website’s design. You’ve probably been in this position yourself; you’ve just heard about a really cool-sounding business or service, so you Google them – and you can’t find a website. Or the website looks quite outdated and poorly designed. You immediately have questions like, “Are they still in business?” or “Is this even a real business?” and as we all unfortunately know, confused customers don’t buy. It’s really important to have an obvious place for potential clients to go when they type your business name into Google. And since your website is your digital storefront, it should be well-designed and well-maintained in order to attract people to learn more.

Reason #3: People can easily find you (in a way that’s affordable for you).

Traditional advertising methods like print, radio, or TV can be pretty expensive and likely out of reach for small businesses. Instead, a website offers more cost-effective marketing opportunities. Through search engine optimization (SEO), social media integration, and content marketing through your blog posts, you can gain traffic to your site when people Google services that you offer, and convert visitors into clients or customers at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. This is especially important for businesses wanting more of a local presence. You can add keywords like your city name or town name on your website, so that people in your local area are more likely to find you using Google.

Reason #4: People will have questions (and you need to sleep!)

Having a professional and well-designed website for your business means that you’re showcasing your offerings, along with branded photos, product/service details, pricing, timelines, processes, and frequently asked questions – so that you can 1) Weed out bad fits without working 24/7, and 2) Avoid answering the same questions over and over again in your DMs or email.

Reason #5: You need data to make better decisions.

A website gives you access to valuable data and analytics (like Google Analytics and Google Search Console). You can track visitor behavior, measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategies, figure out which pages people are visiting most often and for how long, and gain insights into what your customers are searching for when they find you. This information is much more granular than Instagram provides, and it’s crucial for making informed decisions about future marketing efforts and product/service offerings.

Reason #6: It’s easy.

I was sitting uncomfortably in a web design class in 2015 in which we had to code everything by hand using HTML/CSS. I cynically thought to myself, “If this is how web design works, it’s no wonder that I don’t have a website yet!” Thankfully after that, I discovered that there are many easy-to-use web design platforms like Showit (this is the platform that I prefer for my clients and my own website), Squarespace, WordPress (you can use Elementor or Divi to design a WordPress site), Shopify, Wix, and so on. I only design websites in Showit, mainly because I have found that it has the best happy medium between creative freedom and ease of use for future updates. I really love the drag-and-drop nature of it, and there are very few restrictions which means that your website can REALLY become your own unique online home. All you have to do to get started is purchase your domain name (I suggest Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Squarespace for buying a domain name), choose your website platform, and get started with designing!

If all of this sounds awesome but overwhelming to you, I’m here for you! You can reach out to me with website questions or get started with a brand/web design project by visiting my website: https://rosebenedictdesign.com/services.

Both Teai and I are here to help you find success through beautiful brand photos (that add to credibility on your website) and brand/website design (to help you get found online and convert visitors).

Cheers from Columbus,
Rose