What if your business could have the perfect employee? Someone professional in both what they say and how they look, can help generate sales and new leads, and be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Sounds too good to be true, right? It’s not! These are all things a well-designed website can do for your business.
It’s All About Trust
In an increasingly digital world, a website is an important element of gaining consumer trust in your business. 75% of consumers admit to making judgments on a company’s credibility based on the company’s website design, so it’s incredibly important that a well-designed website is one of the first things a consumer finds about your business online.
Even a basic website with just a few pages like an about section and contact information page can be the difference in being seen as open for business or closed. 44% of users will exit a website that does not display contact info.
A website allows you to control the narrative of your business story to establish trust with potential customers. You can showcase your best work through pictures and testimonials, demonstrate your team’s knowledge with informational blog posts, or showcase your products with an eCommerce website. You also can share your core values and mission – topics that are very important to today’s consumers.
Experience Is Key from Search to Sale
Many do research online to narrow down the vast number of choices available to consumers for just about every product or service they want or need. Since 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine your business must appear in search results related to your industry. If they can’t find you they can’t choose you. A website is the main tool to improve search engine rankings.
If a consumer finds you but their experience on your website is poor, 89% of them will shop with a competitor. Slow load times, poor user experience, a non-mobile-friendly site, or an outdated look and feel are all sales and lead deterrents. It’s a competitive landscape no matter what industry you’re in and your business needs to stand out every chance it gets. Having a well-designed website can be what sets you apart.
The Pandemic Effect
Social distancing and quarantine efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 accelerated the trend toward a largely online world, years ahead of schedule.
Businesses that could no longer operate in-person turned to digital solutions like websites and social media to ensure they remained available to their customers. Retailers without an eCommerce website scrambled to get them as store visits plummeted by 90% during lockdowns. Restaurants and bars switched to serving pickup and delivery orders placed online or by phone. Banks encouraged customers to use online banking or telephone banking options. Service-based businesses changed their operations to utilize more online collaboration tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Covid-19 made it essential for businesses across all industries to quickly communicate with the public online. Consumers looked up businesses’ websites to see if they were open and how they were handling pandemic protocols. Seemingly overnight a business’s digital presence went from being beneficial for success, to absolutely vital.
Even now as 2021 comes to an end, we are still seeing the trend of online shopping and communication continuing to rise. 43% of shoppers around the world will research products online before buying or making a commitment, and online shopping is expected to surpass $740 billion in the US alone by 2023. Covid-19 may have accelerated the growth of online retail, but it’s certainly showing no signs of slowing down.
If you are one of the 28% of small businesses that did not have a website in 2021 now is the time to get the ball rolling. Our team at The Times Media Company will work with you to develop the professional website of your business dreams. Reach out today to get started!