If you own a small business, having a website is vital to its success. To mark BDC Small Business Week, which runs from October 20 to 26, 2019, here are five reasons you should create a website for your company.
1. Gain visibility
Websites allow clients to find out more about your business. If search engine optimization (SEO) is used, they can also help you connect with your target market when they appear in search engine results.
2. Provide information
Websites are great platforms for organizing and communicating a lot of information efficiently. A well-designed website, both in terms of ease of use and of the information you put on it, can make a huge impact on your bottom line.
3. Extend your reach
Word of mouth shouldn’t be underestimated but having a website will allow you to reach clients in other cities and regions. This is especially relevant if you have an online store.
4. Get free market research
Tracking your website’s traffic statistics can be a powerful way to shape your marketing strategy. You can find out more about the kinds of people who search for your business and what motivates them to make purchases.
5. Enhance your brand image
Your website says a lot about your company. It can be the glue that holds your brand image together, and the design choices you make will play a key role in converting visitors into customers.
To create an attractive and effective website, work with a reputable business. In particular, many local media companies offer website creation services.
What small businesses should know about measuring their digital performance
If your business has a website, maintains a social media presence and uses online marketing campaigns, it’s important that you take full advantage of all data regarding traffic, click-through rates and purchases. This information will help you retain your current clients and attract new ones. Here are a few types of data to help you make sense of your digital performance.
Unique visitors
Calculating the number of unique visitors your website gets, on which pages they spend time and the geographical location where they reside provides you with critical information with which to evaluate your current marketing strategies.
You can also determine whether visitors found your website through a search engine or a social media website. This is valuable information you can use to craft more targeted campaigns.
Click-through and bounce rates
Tracking the number of clicks per visitor and how long they spend on each of your website’s pages can tell you a lot about its quality.
If visitors tend to leave quickly, it may be time to think about a redesign. Similarly, if they never seem to visit important pages, or any page past the homepage, a revision of the site or of your marketing strategy may be in order.
Survey results
Tracking customer satisfaction through survey results is a good way to identify your platform’s strengths and weaknesses. If you have an e-commerce component, you can also identify popular products. This will help you define effective marketing strategies to attract new customers and retain current ones.
To get the most out of your online presence, determine which indicators are the most relevant to your business. There’s a lot of data out there and using it could help you more than you realize.
