Why Having a Website is Important

Originally published: August 24, 2019 01:23:10 PM, updated: February 21, 2023 11:23:44 AM

As an online business entrepreneur, the success of your business depends on your marketing strategies. A well-executed marketing strategy will boost your success rate while a badly-executed strategy will lead to business failure.

However, it is noteworthy that the success of your marketing strategies is determined by the existence or nonexistence of a good business website. In a nutshell, you need a functional business website to serve as a central hub of all your marketing activities on the Internet.

There are some reasons why a business website plays such roles. This is a list of some of those reasons:

1. It serves as a good guide for your customers: One of the many areas where you will find your website important is helping you with your customers. Since you can’t personally be available to take them through the services or products you sell, your website will play the role of an efficient guide perfectly well.

2. It makes the coordination of your activities easy: If you are very active on social media, you probably have a user account on some notable social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest, and the likes. If you have customers spread across these platforms, you will likely have the desire to interact with them. That is fine. However, it is more productive to have all your social media activities in a single place: your website.

It is very important that you make your website the hub of your marketing activities because it affords you the opportunity to turn your social media fans and friends into customers. Since they can’t make purchase of your products on those platforms, your website is the only place where they can purchase your products. Without directing them to your website, that is impossible.

3. It makes you look professional: Having a business website gives some touches of professionalism to your business. In this age and time, only a few people will take you seriously if you claim to be an online entrepreneur without a website. Some will see you as a scam while some others may consider you as an unserious businessman. In either case, such people will find it challenging to transact business with you. With your website, on the other hand, the case is different. You will be seen as a businessman who knows his game.

4. It makes patronage better: You set up your business for a purpose: patronage. Whether you are selling a product or offering some services, your success depends on the level of patronage you enjoy. When you have a business website, it can increase your sales. Potential buyers can review the product before contacting you. Nobody will pay for a product or service he has no idea of. So, the uninterrupted opportunities to go through your profile, product, service, and what have you at any time of the day and from any part of the world will increase your patronage.

How to Make a Top-Notch Business Website?

They say, you can never get a second chance to make a good first impression. When you put this in your perspective, this is how things usually work out – people hear of you, either from a satisfied customer or an internet ad, and decide to see what you are all about. The first impression they make of your business is based on what they see on your website. If it seems professional, well organized and user-friendly, this first impression will be a positive one. If not… Well, you have just lost a potential client.

Because of this, it is more than clear that having a well-organized website potentially has a chance to raise your business to a whole new level. With this in mind, here are few tips on how to make a top-notch business website.

Consistent Content

Although a lot of people put emphasis on the quality of your content (as they should) this is not the only thing that matters. In order to establish your website as a niche authority you also need to make your content consistent. However, this can only be done in two ways. The first one requires you to write all of your content on your own. Unfortunately, this can be quite exhausting, which is why you have the option number two – collaboration with reliable contributors. Sure, having guest writers is not a taboo either, but you need to explain to them in detail what your website’s viewers are expecting to see. Finally, don’t shy away from rejecting content that is not good enough for your site.

Get a Designer

Sure, this may be an expense move you haven’t planned, but the end results are always worth it. You see, humans are visual beings, which means that subtle hints in nuances, layout and logo of your business might just tip them into your favor. While in theory this is something you could do on your own, it is usually for the best to entrust this vital task to a professional website design company.

Make it Functional

Making your business look good is important, but it is not nearly as important as adding some vital functions to it. Sure, sometimes people will just come to your website to see what you are about or look for a contact. Still, there is no reason why their website interaction should stop there. For example, if you are in the event management business, you should allow your customers to get their tickets through your website. However, this is a serious task and you need to prepare for selling tickets on your website.

Improve your Response Time

Earlier on, we talked about adding function to your page, but you need to be extremely careful not to overdo it. Each plugin you include will slow down your website a bit and this can significantly affect your bottom line. Namely, if your website fails to load in only 4 seconds, ¼ of your website’s audience is bound to leave. We are talking about numberless missed business opportunities. However, improving the speed is quite easy – all you need to do is reduce the number of third-party software to necessary minimum, optimize images and find a good host.

What the Highest Converting Websites do Differently?

If your website is struggling with conversion and you read about some websites with awe-inspiring conversion rates, how do you feel? You may feel intimidated and keep questioning yourself why you are not as successful as your competitors.

Well, high-converting website design actually takes some decisions and makes some things differently from others. That is responsible for the difference in their conversion rates and that of other low-conversion websites.

If you want a transformation in your conversion, pay close attention to what these high-converting websites do differently.

1. They highlight their values: The first place that visitors visit on your website is the landing page or homepage. The content of your homepage will determine whether your readers will proceed or move to the next website. To increase your conversion, let your landing page contain catchy information that will win the attention of your readers. Let it contain the benefits of transacting business with you or purchasing your product. You can include some irresistible offers such as free shipping or money back guarantee. Such offers will convince a great number of your readers to patronize you. Gradually, your conversion rate will increase.

2. They put their calls-to-actions to the test: Successful website owners test their calls-to-actions to determine their efficiency. This helps them to find out which call-to-action will lead to more conversion and which one won’t. For instance, Mozialla increased their conversion by tweaking their call-to-action. They found out that their latest call-to-action, “Download Now-Free” led to more download than their previous call-to-action, “Try Firefox 3.” In the latter call-to-action, a visitor may ignore the message due to some hidden values. It is difficult for the reader to know whether he or she will pay for trying the product. However, the message is clear in the former: downloading the software comes at no cost to the user. That led to the increases conversion rate.

This goes to show that they just don’t write calls-to-actions and leave them to perform miracles. They test different ones to pick the best-performing out of the different options they have. That way, their conversion will increase.

3. They test their headlines too: Apart from testing the efficacy of their calls-to-actions, websites with high conversions also test their headlines to determine the most effective. They take this precaution because your headline may determine the success or failure of your campaign. As I pointed out before, your visitors will view your homepage before anywhere else. A good and appealing headline will keep them to your website and may move them to take action. Such an impression will remain evergreen in their memories and they will be ready to come back again. Therefore, imitate these websites by testing different headlines before using the one with the best potential for conversion. Learn to be creative with your headlines. Let it contain a pointer to the benefits they will gain from conduction business with you.

4. They use short forms: Your readers may have to sign up before enjoying your services. This requires that you give them a form to fill. While the temptation to ask for a huge volume of information may be high, websites that convert well don’t engage in such. They use short forms to collect simple information. This is practical considering the tendency of some people to ignore long forms as they find it irritating. On the other hand, since short forms require about two or three information and less time consuming, people will find it convenient to sign up. That also helps in boosting conversion.

Here is a link to explore the best website design agencies worldwide as well as a comprehensive guide to choosing a web hosting service that fits your needs.