Haven’t Pulled The Trigger On A Website: 5 Essential Things Small Business Owners Should Consider.

1. Start Small | Grow Big

If you are in the service industry approx. 80% of people are looking to answer the same questions when they come to your website and they are: what you do, who you are and a way to contact you. The best way to spend a limited budget (e.g. less that $1,500) is by starting with a simple page that answers these questions, more often than not you can cover all of this in 1 page.

The question you need to ask yourself is what is more important (a) getting your business online quickly and effectively or (b) answering the questions of 100% of customers online. More likely than not if someone is interesting in what you do they will give you a call or drop an email anyway.

Consider getting a small affordable website and updating it as you gain traffic and customers. A great case study of this was a business we worked with selling a single agricultural product, they had a small 1 page website built initially and as customers called and asked questions they added to the website to answer those specific question there. This was an effective strategy to not only grow their websites size and scale but also to make sure they information they provided on their site was actually useful to their target audience.

2. You need one to be shown on google but having one doesn’t mean you will show up on the first page.

One thing a lot of people don’t realise is that if you don’t have a website you can’t be shown up on Google. This is a significant issue when you go on to read the last point. Another thing that a lot of people seem surprised about is that even if you do have a website it doesn’t mean that you will rank highly on google (e.g. the first page or even the second). The good news for people in regional areas is that it is significantly easier to rank in low population areas due to there typically being less people offering your service.

You will need to put some effort into promoting your website, it is no longer a case of “If you build it, they will come”. However, luckily there are some simple FREE methods for promoting a website, the most effective being a Google My Business Account (especially for regional businesses).

3. It is all about the “Social Proof”

While a website isn’t directly “Social Proof” it has been proven that people trust a business if they are able to find an online footprint that shows the business is active. A great combination is a website and a lot of google reviews however just having a website where people can see who you are is a massive bonus.

Consider pairing your website with a social media platform like Facebook or Instagram to get the most out of both tools.

4. Basis for online advertising

With online advertising now a option for small to medium regional businesses it makes sense to get on the bandwagon. The first question any online marketer worth their salt will ask you is “Do You Have A Website?”. This is because the most common ways to advertise online requires a website to send the people to (even some forms of Facebook marketing requires a website to link to).

So if you are looking to get into digital marketing the first thing you might want to do is get your website sorted.

5. The Vast Majority Of Australian Search Online For Their Goods and Services Even If They Buy In Person.

A 2020 study shows that 81% of people search online for products and services, even if they end up purchasing in store. I don’t really need to explain the importance of this statistic as I think it speaks for itself. However, after working with over 14 distinct industries we have yet to find one a website hasn’t been an asset to.

Today you might need a website to get the most customers possible but you don’t need to send thousands getting a fluffy complicated website. Start small and build big. Hopefully this article has given you food for thought. Good luck.

Important Bonus Tip: Make sure you find a good quality Australian based website design agency and don’t cut corners by going overseas, trust us we have seen the headaches and the end of cost is far higher.