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10 Reasons Why Your Local Business Needs a Website

We went from searching the Yellowpages, to performing online searches on our desktop to now the ease of searching on your mobile phone for local business information. Because you can find information about local businesses right at your fingertips, companies need to attract these local customers if they are serving a specific geographic area.

Some companies still use traditional forms of advertising such as billboards or television ads, but they tend to be to costly for smaller businesses and do not provide the same ROI as local SEO services on your website will. Building an online presence is important to attracting these potential customers and the first step towards doing this is creating a website for your company.

If you are among the 40% of businesses that still do not have a company website and online presence, you’re losing out on this extremely powerful marketing tool that works 24 hours a day.

Still not convinced, here are 10 essential reasons why you should be focused on creating a website for your company in the coming year.

1. It’s Like Having a Digital Business Card

A website is like having a digital business card for your business that people can easily look at if they need your contact information and learn about the services you provide.

Most people lose typical business cards, so having a website with accurate information about your company accessible all the time will minimize losing potential customers because they can’t find your company information.
Almost 4.5 billion people spend their time using the web each day, so you need to get your business in front these people!.

2. Attract New Customers Through Search Engines

Attracting new customers is the live blood of every business and having a professionally designed website allows you to do that. People don’t always search online for business they know. In most cases they are looking to discover companies they want to do businesses with whether its local services or to find a product or business they never knew existed. Users usually start their buying process with a search on a search engine. Make sure you have information for prospects in multiple stages of the sales process, whether they are researchers, comparers or purchasers.
This makes it imperative that your business has a search-optimized website that can rank well in search engine results. This way searches will find you in the earlier stages of their buying cycle and learn how you can help them before discovering your competition.
81% of people research a business or service online prior to making a purchase decision. If you don’t have a website, you have no chance at capturing a share of this market.

3. Your Website Stays Open 24 Hours a Day

Unlike your business, which most likely operate or communicate with customers 9am – 5pm, your website is open 24 hours per day every day. So now even when your business is closed and your staff is not available to help customers, your website is available for people to find information they need and even allow customers to make purchases and contact you.

4. Consumers Search with Proximity in Mind

For small businesses that service a specific geographic area, the need to have an optimized website that comes up in local search results is essential. Consider this, 46% of all searches on Google are local and 72% of consumers that did a local search visited a store within five miles.  With the increase of mobile devices used to search for products and services that are close to them, you need to capture this traffic.
Are you getting their business?. Having a website allows searchers who are looking for a business in their immediate town or city, discover your brand and do business with you.

5. Adds Instant Credibility

30% of consumers will not consider buying from a company that does not have a website. Americans spend an average of almost 5 hours a day on their mobile devices so having a dated looking website or no website at all significantly hurts your credibility and sales.
User experience is everything these days, if searchers do not like your website because of appearance or load speed they will simply bounce off your website.

Having a professionally designed, mobile friendly website can help potential customers see that you are a professional, reputable, one that they will want to do business with.
Depending on local profiles and social media pages alone only gets you so far.  In the end searches always want to see that you have a website connected to your account because it makes them feel you are more credible and didn’t just set up a free page on a social website.

Think about it. Would you trust a business that didn’t have a website?

6. Your Competitors Have a Website

Most companies have websites these days and are investing in their presence online, so it’s likely that your competitors have a website and are doing business with people in your local market.
If you want be competitive within your industry, it’s important that your business have a piece of the market. It will help you stay competitive and look like a modern tech-savvy business.

7. Show Up in Google Search Results with SEO Services

A website alone will not get you business. Many web development companies make the process easy for you to have website for your business and add SEO services to optimize it so you can increase traffic from Google Search Engine results.
Finding a marketing strategy that is Cost Effective and Produces High ROI is every business owners goal. If you have a professional website for your business, you can have your site optimized for search using SEO services that is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies and in the long run produces the best return on investment.

8. Google Ranks Local Businesses Higher When Searchers Use Mobile Devices

Google assumes mobile phone searchers are out and about when searching, so they provide businesses in search results that are in a close proximity to you. This makes mobile and local SEO essential for local businesses.
Take advantage Google’s preference for mobile searchers by having a company website that is mobile search optimized for mobile and appear higher up on the results page. This increases your chances of reaching consumers that are more ready to buy and helping them discover your brand.

9. Introduce Your Company’s Brand and Image

Social media pages are good for brand awareness and engaging with the public, but a having business website allows you project an image of your company and introduce your brand to the public in a way that your social media pages will not. Through your websites look, feel, images, colors, the voice of your content, it allows you to shape your company’s online image.
Social media sites like Facebook and Linkedin allows you to convey a customer service image to the public, but when you create your own website you get to paint the whole picture of your business.

10. Grow Your Business by Showing Products and Services

If you want to attract new customers and grow your business, having a website will allow you to expand your reach to remote areas, not just local customers. It also helps showcase what your selling to help convert visitors into paying customers. Study’s show that over 81 percent of searchers consult the internet before purchasing a product or service.