Nowadays, it seems like everyone has a website for just about everything right? Well that stat is not too far off, with more than 1.7 billion websites existing in 2021, the truth is that if you do not have one, you’re missing out! But why are they so important? And for businesses, whether big or small, why have they become a necessity?
Searchability
Most people will often just Google for something they are looking for. Gone are the days of searching through huge Yellow Pages books and choosing a company by their name alone, users will choose often solely on the company’s website – if you cannot be found, how is anyone going to find you?
First Impressions
Upon locating your company, if you have a slow, uninteresting, or even badly designed website, users will click back quicker than you can say ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ (spoiler: we’ll come back to this later). This first impression is crucial, users know that they have lots of options, so you must ensure that you not only have a website, but one that loads quickly and is visually appealing.
By making that good impression, the user is more likely to stay on your site so you can sell them on the services or products that you offer.
Competitive Advantage
A website is also a competitive advantage when done correctly. While smaller businesses may think that it is enough to have a Facebook or Instagram page, you are missing out on a massive portion of users who may not use those platforms or who may never come across you.
The competitive advantage also comes from what your website can offer – for example, do you offer prices online or an easy way to send enquiries in? Can you answer frequently asked questions automatically? These are easy ways to offer a unique service that means that users will choose your company over others.
SEO / Organic Traffic
As we have stated earlier, being on the internet gives you the chance to be found by users searching for something specific. Specific services are much harder to find on Social Media platforms due to the amount of content and limited search options.
Added on to this is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This is the process of creating credibility as a website. This is a long process that we will cover in a subsequent blog post but to shorten it down, it boils down to where you rank within Google (and other search engine pages). Being optimised means you are more likely to appear at the top more often – and therefore, easier for customers to find you.
Conclusion
We hope this clears up why Websites are so crucial today. At Magpie IT & Digital Marketing, we can create beautiful, dynamically scaling websites and specialise in assisting small businesses to get out in the digital space. Visit our Contact Us page to find out how we could assist you.