Does your online business really need a professional website?

This one is for all the online business owners out there who have been running their business mainly on social media. 

Posting daily on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok etc.

Social media can be a valuable tool for any online business, but here are some reasons why it’s important to have a professional website instead of relying solely on your social media profiles:

• You don’t own your social media or have control over the platforms
• Social Media keeps you stuck in the 24 hour disappearing content cycle
• You have no control over the algorithm and are always guessing to stay relevant on the platforms
• It’s difficult for you to take time away without social media marketing suffering
• You are often dependent upon your emotions & feeling inspiration to post
• You feel pressure to post, whether you feel like creating content that day or not

Social Media SUPPORTS your brand BUT your brand should NOT depend upon it to survive!

A Website should be the main hub for your business where you send ALL your traffic from social media, content marketing and email marketing.

Here are some of the benefits of having a professionally designed website for your business: 

• Automate your information delivery
• Receive more qualified applicants
• Gain credibility and boost your expert positioning
• OWN your brand and assets
• Builds a long term reputation away from trends/platforms
• Leverage SEO and content marketing
• Receive Press and Interview Oppotunities
• Increase your prices with an elevated Brand
• Provide evergreen information about your services even when you aren’t actively marketing on social media

For anyone who owns a business online, you already know that we are living in a time of instant gratification and information overload. The market is so saturated that it is hard to stand out. This is a relatively new idea. It used to be that you could be the only coffee shop or law office or hair salon in town. Now, you are competing with everyone in the WORLD, no longer just the business across the street. Because literally anyone can have a website online, people are skeptical and scrutinize every last detail in order to determine if you are credible enough to buy from. 

Think about the last time you landed on a website that didn’t look one hundred percent legit, your SCAM sensors probably started going off and you clicked off that site immediately, right? Whenever you buy anything from any site that isn’t already an established and well-known brand, you are super attuned to ANY possible sign that the site may not be a safe place to spend your money. Because when you buy something online from a complete stranger and a website you’ve never seen before, there’s a lot that can go wrong and you don’t want to get screwed over, right?

So, because of this buyers-beware skepticism we all have online, people now expect you to have a professional website even if you are just starting out. They expect it to be clean, clear and easy to use. They expect a seamless online experience interacting with brands and they expect to encounter experts. People don’t have patience for websites that are hard to navigate, sites that are slow to load or sites that don’t show them right away how to solve their problem.

People want instant gratification online and to get that they need to trust you right away. If your website doesn’t deliver, they are going to quickly and easily find another business to solve their problem.

There is good news here though. The fact that your business is competing with all other businesses in the world ALSO means that you potentially have access to all 7.5 BILLION customers in the world. That means there is an exponentially larger opportunity for you and your online business to succeed in this global market where you can access and target your ideal client even if they live on the other side of the world. 

Think about this for a second, you have the potential to reach ALL of your ideal clients, no matter where they live. With an online business, you can serve SO MANY people and this is so exciting because this means that you really and truly can change the world with your services. 

A website elevates your brand and automates your information delivery

A strategically designed website will give you INSTANT credibility and position you as the leading expert in your industry. Your website also answers all your client’s questions before they even ask, leading to more sales and fewer emails in your inbox.

There is so much potential for your business to succeed in this situation because you have access to the entire population of the internet. But your online business can only succeed in this situation if you do things in a way that positions you as the go-to expert in your industry. This is so important because the downside to having access to the entire world means that it is REALLY hard to stand out from the crowd. Because of this, there are going to be some winners in the online business game but there are also going to be a lot of people who don’t win, people who don’t stand out from the crowd and people whose businesses can’t stay afloat online.

To get a bit nerdy about it, since I am a web developer after all, more than 90% of all online business start-ups end in failure within just the first 4 months! This means 9 out of every 10 startups will fail. I know that this statistic can sound really scary, especially if you are in the first year of your online business.  But the good news is you’re here today because you don’t want to be a part of this 90%, you are ready to stand out from the crowd and WIN in this online space.

So, let’s talk about the people who will win in the crowded online space. The people and businesses that will be able to win in this crazy huge global market will have to first offer a product or service that people actually really want and need. So the first key to success in online business is to have an offer that solves problems for people. 

Once you are certain you are offering a product or service that people want, then the next thing you need is to find a way to get the attention of people who actually want and need your services. You need to find a way to rise above the noise and stand out from the crowd. The main way that successful businesses do this online is by having a website. Even businesses with large social media followings funnel their audience to their website so that they can convert their audience into customers.

When you have a website that establishes instant credibility for your business, this puts people at ease, it helps them trust you. If from using your website and your product or service they are able to get the instant gratification they crave, they can stop searching for answers elsewhere. 

And because of all this they are more likely to buy from you, the person who is already solving their problems. 

So what does all this really mean for you? People and businesses that design for credibility have a strategic advantage over their competition. These are the people that are going to win in this online world of oversaturation and instant gratification.

So we know that with access to the entire world online there are lots of opportunities to make money. But in addition to just getting people to buy your thing, it’s important to remember that there are people out there right now who NEED YOUR HELP. If you are a copywriter, there are people out there whose sales are floundering without your copy. If you are a health coach, there are people out there suffering from chronic illness who need your nutrition plans. If you’re a motivational speaker, there are people out there ready to give up on their dreams that need your guidance to keep going. People need your help and they are ready to open their wallets and pay their hard earned cash for you to solve their problem, but they can’t do that if they can’t find you and can’t trust you even when they do find you.

Right now your ideal clients are out there. Whatever problem it is that you solve, they need YOU. And they need you right now. And this should be what is going through your mind as you build your website.  

There are plenty of thriving businesses out there online. What do they have that sets them apart? A website with instant credibility. Their website stands out from everyone else’s because when people land on their site, they know exactly what problem their site solves for them and they look trustworthy. People are ready to pay these businesses, these complete strangers, based solely on how their website looks. 

I want to leave you with a couple questions to consider: 

QUESTION: How would you spend your extra time if your website automated your information delivery for you so that you could spend less time on social media?

QUESTION: Where do you want your business to be in the next 5 years and can you get there without a professionally designed website?

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