Posted: September 8, 2020
With a plethora of options to get the word out about your business, retail side hustle, and home bakery out to the masses, you may wonder if it’s even worth it to build a full website anymore. Facebook offers Business Pages and Instagram integrates with commerce options directly to sell to followers. Some take-out oriented food service businesses rely on delivery behemoths like DoorDash and UberEats to be found by hungry patrons.
If you’ve got a side hustle, are launching a new business, or just aren’t sure of the benefits of a full website, that’s exactly what we’re discussing today. There are a few reasons why you might still want a website in 2020 and into the near future. While we can’t say what digital marketing will be like in five to ten years, or even three, we can confidently say that investing into a website for your business is a savvy decision. Here’s why:
With a website, you have more control over the SEO.
SEO, or search engine optimization, controls how well your site ranks on search engines like Google. If you’re a taco shop in Tampa, for example, the higher your website is on the first search result page of someone in Tampa searching for “taco shop near me” can directly result in higher sales. While social media accounts have their own ranking systems and search tools, having a website gives you the power to build brand authority and share subject matter expertise.
It provides a sense of validity.
While it is more commonplace in 2020 for a small business or start-up to only have a Facebook business page or Instagram business account, many consumers still do the bulk of their initial research via search engines. The majority of shoppers, 87%, start their product searches online (RetailDive).
For someone looking for a new skincare serum, they’re likely to head to blogs, newsletters, and Google searches to find potential fits for what they are looking for. While influencers and word of mouth are important to the marketing process, having a website that ranks well and looks professional can have a major impact in how well your marketing and sales will do.
You can share more information about your service/business.
This includes topic pages for things like FAQs, Support, and info about sustainability, philanthropy, and other subjects that consumers are seeking. Instead of a standalone shopify page or a Facebook business page that are more limited in the layout and amount of information that you can share, your business website can be wireframed in virtually any way you’d like.
If you want to spend a lot of time talking about your company history, do it. Building out a biweekly blog to showcase your industry knowledge? Put it on your website!
Can add additional functionality in the future.
For businesses that are looking to expand and include more integrated functionality in the future, a custom website provides the base for future advancements. Customer portals, support centers, and more can all be built into websites, though it’s not inexpensive to do right off the bat. However, if that type of expansion and capabilities are something that you want to scale towards in the future, having your own website from the start makes it easier to do that down the road.
Custom domains have added benefits.
Having your own domain (ours is fourtensdigital.com) has multiple benefits. One of those includes the ability to have a business email address. When people want to contact you, they can email yourname@yourbusinessdomain.com if you've got that all set up through your website. It provides another sense of authority for your business, so that you can be taken as seriously as possible when just starting out. Another benefit of a custom domain? You can prevent anyone else from using your business name for their own website purposes. Whether or not your business name is trademarked, if you own the domain, you’re the only one who can use it.
Not sure how to get a website set up for your business or service? Website building and design happens to be something that Four Tens specializes in! While there are other website hosting services that use templates to stage pages quickly, you may find fewer options and customizations available. Working with experts means that you can express what you are looking for in terms of aesthetics and functionality and have someone else create it for you. We like to call it the “easy button” option.
If you’re looking to learn more about your options regarding having a website for your side hustle, small business, or service, contact Four Tens today!