Look no further.
After reading this, you should no longer find yourself asking “Do I need a website?” in 2020 and beyond.
Actually, by the time you finish this article, you’ll probably wonder why you ever even asked such a silly question.
Having a business website today is like being on the Yellow Pages 25 years ago.
In fact, I would argue that having a website is even more important than being on Yellow Pages once was. Websites enable you to do more than just let your customers find you. They provide a way for you to connect with your audience, develop your brand image, promote new ideas, and so much more.
Here are 7 reasons you need a WEBSITE – not social media, not a Google My Business page listing, but a website – in 2020.
1. Information
Websites allow you to present information to your audience in an organized way.
Have you ever typed a question in on Google and spent 5-10 minutes (maybe even longer) just looking for the answer to that one question?
You probably read through several different websites, watched a few videos or even asked a friend if they knew the answer to it but you couldn’t quite find what you were looking for.
Isn’t it frustrating?
Now imagine your customer doing that when they’re trying to find information on your business.
Story Time!
A few weeks ago I made plans to get a drink with a friend. My price-consciousness has not left me since graduating college so I looked up “Tuesday night drink specials in Austin”. Google led me to Cane & Abel’s website which mentioned that they had “2.50 White Trash Cans”.
I figured this was some sort of cocktail twist on a White Claw – which I really don’t mind – so I was intrigued. Being that my friend and I both live close to the bar, I decided to give it a shot.
When I got there, I asked about the special and the most laid-back bartender on the planet casually replied:
Oh yeah, our website isn’t up to date, we don’t do that.
Me: So you don’t have any specials tonight?
Bartender: Nah, sorry bro
The only reason I went to the bar in the first place is cause their website said they had Tuesday night specials.
It’s therefore not only expected of businesses to have a website but it’s expected of them to have the correct information about their business on their website.
By default then…
If a customer wants to find information about a business, they’re going to go to that business’s website.
So if a business DOESN’T HAVE ONE…then they’re really putting their customer in a tight spot – keep searching for the information OR just go to the next business that has a website.
Customers are going to do whatever is easiest for them, and websites make it easy to put all the information your customer will ever need in one place that they’re already going to be looking.
2. Customization.
Businesses not only get to choose what information to put on their website, but they also get to choose exactly how they want to put it.
Your business gets to decide on the #1 objective of its website. Whether it’s acquiring new customers, growing your social accounts, focusing on improving brand image, increasing CLV through brand loyalty incentives, or simply providing information, your business gets to choose what it wants to focus on.
This also means that by choosing what colors, images, and messages you include on your site, you can control how your customer feels about your company before they even spend a penny on you.
3. Discoverability
According to BrightLocal, 90% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses.
Additionally, in a search experiment conducted by Moz (a leader in Search Engine Optimization), 75% of businesses that showed up in the first 3 search results of a Google My Business page had websites.
There’s no question – having a website makes it easier to be found online. And “online” is where consumers spend their time. Check my previous blog post about why Social Media and Google My Business Are Not Enough.
4. Brand Image/Voice
Your customers have an image of your business in their heads. This is called brand image.
Brand voice is a business’s attitude or personality. One of the reasons Gary Vee is so successful is that he’s used his brand voice so effectively to establish a positive image of himself in his audience’s mind.
You can reinforce both brand image and brand voice with a website.
Look at how Patagonia and GoPro use their websites to showcase being outdoorsy and adventurous.
By doing this, they can better CONNECT with their potential customer.
What do you think customers think of businesses that DON’T have a website?What do you think of businesses that don’t have their own site? Research shows that 30% of customers won’t even consider a business that doesn’t have a website. Websites provide credibility and instill professionalism in people’s minds.
5. Customer Contact
In today’s digital age, it can be complicated to navigate various obstacles and platforms to contact a company.
Make it easy for your customers by letting them contact you directly through your website! Remember, customers expect to find everything they need from your business on your website.
Most business websites have a “Contact Us” section and this is because it makes it easy for visitors to reach out to them! Add your phone number, email address, or even link your social accounts to your site and make it easy for people to contact your business.
You can encourage your customers to reach out to you via email to give personal feedback! I can set up professional email accounts for your business for FREE if you have me design your website.
6. Relationship Building
“Email” may seem like an old word, but it is a still extremely effective even today. In fact, email marketing still converts up to 40 times better than social media. This is because it’s more direct and more personable than an Instagram or Twitter post. It’s also easier to manage!
“Email marketing” allows you to build a relationship with your customers so you can increase your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
CLV is extremely important when it comes to profitability. Some analysts even apply the 80/20 Rule and say that 80% of most businesses’ revenue comes from 20% of customers. Therefore you need to sustain a relationship with those customers!
Websites can act as a home for growing your email list. By putting an opt-in with a powerful offer such as giving customers a significant discount or something for free if they sign up, you can grow your email list quickly.
You’ve probably noticed that I have an opt-in at the bottom of my website as well as on my Blog page. Yes, even I want to build my email list. However, I grow it through providing quality content like this to my subscribers!
So if you’re finding this post helpful or you enjoy reading about business and marketing (I know you guys are out there somewhere), subscribe! 🙂
There you go – I’m now exposed.
7. Marketing Tool
Saved the best for last!
It’s about to get allllll nerdy up in here.
Your website is the only thing that can really be used as (what I like to call) a Marketing Swiss Army Knife.
Well, not the actual Swiss Army knife, but let’s call it the center-piece of the Swiss Army Knife that pulls everything together!
Yeah, analogies! And pictures to go with them!
A website is the only tool that enables your business to run ads, effectively drive traffic and conversions, perform analytics, and…well…do all the other Swiss Army knife things.
Can you imagine trying to push everyone to your FACEBOOK PAGE? People would literally laugh at you.
Personally, I’d cry and probably create a site for you for free out of pity but that’s aside the point!
With a website, you open up ~a whole new world~ of marketing possibilities.
Because I was so overwhelmed when writing this, I just broke the Marketing Swiss Army Website Knife thingy down tool by tool to help you see the marketing power that websites give you.
- Analytics. Find out what is important to customers by using Google Analytics to analyze what they’re clicking on. (I set this up with my sites.) From there, you can adjust your message and better cater it to your audience!
- Deals and Specials. What’s happenin with your biz? Anything exciting? Let the people know! Use clear CTAs (Call-To-Actions) to direct people where you want them to go. Just be sure to keep your information up to date so you don’t be like that bartender…
- PPC Ads. Having a website enables you to run Google and Facebook ads! Redirect the traffic directly to your offer rather than your homepage to increase conversions.
- Other Ads. Not JUST Google and FB Ads, but any ad you could possibly think of – Snapchat, Yahoo!, even Tinder ads if that fits your business.
- Email Marketing.This is what the whole Relationship Building section was about. Building an email list allows you to better connect with your customers and increase CLV (Customer Lifetime Value). The only way to do this is with a website!
For the love of God, please don’t use a Gmail address. - Search Engine Optimization. SEO is what the cool kids call it. The only way to effectively gain organic traffic is with a website. Blogging consistently through your site expands your presence on the internet and makes it more likely for you to pop up on Google! By optimizing your content for certain keywords, you can further increase your likelihood of being found! SEO is perhaps the most effective marketing tool LONG TERM but it is also an investment. I’ll write a few blog posts about it down the line so be sure to subscribe!
- Affiliate Marketing. Promote other products and services as an affiliate and get paid for every person you convert. This only works of course if you have traffic to your site, but some people make millions of dollars a year JUST DOING THIS. That’s how Ryan ToysReview – the kid who made $22 million as a 5 year old reviewing toys – first made money.
- YouTube Channel. Every single person with any inkling of dedication to their YouTube channel will have a website. You can’t drop all those value bombs on your channel and then have nowhere to send them down the line? I mean where else are you gonna convert them? Venmo?
- Social Media. Let’s say Joe visits your site after watching one of your YouTube videos. He scrolls down and sees that you guys have an Instagram page. Joe doesn’t really use YouTube much so he won’t subscribe to you there, but he does like Instagram. Joe can easily just click the social link on your website and hit “Follow”. Congrats, you’re one follower richer thanks to your website.
A website is the true center of the Marketing Swiss Army Knife because it’s the only place that you can really send every single traffic source to.
It’s where your customers expect to go. It’s where the magic happens.
Whether it’s from social media traffic, blog traffic, google search traffic, PPC ads, or traffic from your grandma’s Facebook status, you want to send all your traffic to ONE place.
This is how you create an effective marketing funnel.
And that’s a wrap!
If you made it through all 29348247 words of this post, I truly admire your attention span and passion for marketing. Hopefully now you have a better understanding of how integral websites are to businesses in 2020 and beyond.
If you do need a website, hit my line – I’m extremely affordable, I promise.
Good luck in your future digital marketing endeavors!
