“ARE WEBSITES IMPORTANT ANYMORE? ” Do you really think so! Being your own boss is the new trend and it makes sense so correctly. The world is mushrooming and so are the businesses. In today’s world where every other person wants to set up their own business, making it stand out is a whole another task to keep up with. Moreover, an offline business doesn’t stand a chance in this rapidly growing era of business, if one doesn’t have an online presence or if the visibility is of the mediocre level. This is where developing a website comes into play. Having a website makes it so much easier to run the business. One can carry out every possible service at just one click. It becomes a cakewalk for the audience to browse the site and have the leverage of knowing about the services without contacting anyone.
However, in the age of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. You might believe that there is no need to invest in a full-blown website now. Business owners might think it is a waste of time, money, and energy and a better strategy would be to focus where the users actually are – Social Media channels.
But that is not the case. There are many reasons why websites still hold importance in 2020.
Importance of a Website
Having a website gives your business instant authority. A proper and functioning website can go a long way toward establishing trust with your brand.
- If your brand’s presence is only on social media platforms, it doesn’t look very professional.
- Moreover, when a company doesn’t have its own website and fully depends upon a third party to promote and build its brand and gain customers, it already has its back against the wall.
- What happens when a specific social media platform goes dormant? All the efforts made towards it go down the drain. A balance between the two (i.e., website and social media channels) is important.
- Another way to look at investing in your website is through looking at it this way – you no longer have to invest in printing materials, getting it circulated, etc. Designing and launching a website is a one-time cost.
- However, you have to make sure that your website has proper SEOs in place. Your local SEOs need to be worked on regularly, as those customers who search for local businesses are highly likely going to be the ones that are looking for definitive quick purchases.
- Websites are important for link building too. Links are essential for SEO but they are even more important for referrals.
- A business website has greater authority and of greater use when it comes to promoting your brand. Having a permanent home on the web means you are one step closer to controlling your customer relationships. You are able to control the customer service process and directly reach out to them with the help of personal data collected over time.
Design and Creative Control
Almost all social media channels give you the opportunity to post your content in a different way, but sharing of content solely from a third party means however creative your content is you will always post your content according to the guidelines set by the social media channel.
- From the technical aspect, if we talk about designing the website, make sure you are able to have a website that is user-friendly. Meaning if a person has landed on your website for the first time, make sure that they are able to navigate effortlessly.
- When you create your own website you get to choose and put out exactly what you want, you don’t have to conform to their norms, those who have no idea about your products or services are able to understand the same within a few seconds just by glancing at your website.
- When you own a website, you have the data of the people visiting it and of those who are interested in your business, meanwhile, if you use a third party channel they own the customer data and not you.
- If you have a website of your own, you have the final say on how the content is put out there, while you may get more reach if you decide to use a social media channel, you don’t know how your content is perceived by the audience.
- Social Media is mainly a beginner’s website or tool for brand promotion, as social media channels have much more outreach it is important to have a great social media presence when you are starting out, but in the long run, your website is the one that will get the most traffic.
Benefits of Owning a Website
- Instant command and authority over your content, your website is the center point to your entire online presence.
- Social media pages of your businesses don’t belong to you, but your website is yours, you do not get affected by the changes that the social media channels make as your central point is your website.
- Making a website is really cheap and it is far more beneficial than having an offline presence.
- Spending money on ads gets more traffic and sales.
- Most of the established and successful brands out there get their engagement through their website, almost 60% of the potential clients visit the companies website before buying or using any service or product.
- Customer service is easier if you have a fully functioning well-made website, you and the customer are in direct contact and there is no third party to slow down any customer-company interaction.
Social media platforms can become outdated in no time, but your company’s website stays on forever. A well- designed, user-friendly website is the way to go. Make sure that the content that you are adding is well thought off, informative, easy to understand and SEO optimized.
So the answer to the question ‘Are websites still important in the year 2020’ – is an easy one. Yes. They are important; having a website gives the users an assurance that since you have spent time and money on a channel you mean business. It gives your business the authoritative powers over the narrative for your brand.
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