A couple of years ago, I might have said having a web presence depends on your business needs. Now, it’s non-negotiable.
Regardless of the size of your business or how much revenue you generate, you need a presence on Google. People expect to find you online instantly—whether it’s through a business listing, customer reviews or a quick search on their phone.
We live in a world where everything is on-demand. It only takes a click, swipe or tap to access information.
But I Can’t Afford an Expensive Website!
No problem. You don’t need a thousand-dollar website. Today, there are plenty of affordable and even free tools to get your business online without breaking the bank. Content management systems like WordPress offer countless free themes and plugins, allowing you to create a unique, functional website with minimal effort. The focus should be on giving your audience the information they need, not flashy bells and whistles. And if you’re looking to grow your local clientele, investing in Google Business and local SEO is key.
Build Your Online Presence with Free Tools
Online reviews and user-generated content now play a massive role in shaping a business’s identity. These platforms often appear at the top of search results and influence customer decisions, so you can’t afford to ignore them. Make sure your business is listed and active on these platforms:
Social Media for Business Growth
While platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter are useful for growing your audience, they take time and effort to build a following. However, they can be worth it for long-term visibility and customer engagement.
Don’t Overpay
You don’t need to spend thousands on a flashy site, especially for a small business. Web developers are everywhere, from local freelancers to online marketplaces. Just be smart—get multiple quotes, learn the basics and avoid being upsold on unnecessary features like over-the-top SEO services or social media gimmicks. Your priority should be a functional, user-friendly website that delivers what your customers need.
5 replies on “Does Your Business Need A Website?”
I agree. In this age and time, It’s surprising to find out that there are still businesses out there that do not have online presence. They can even build it themselves if they just invest a little time to taking a short course. There are even those that are offered for free and there are also platforms and tools that are free that would help them achieve that goal.
Amy Cameron
BuildMySiteforFree.com
Google provide a couple of handy tools.
Free website: http://pages.google.com/
List your site: http://www.google.com/local/add/
And finally a good little walk through guide I have found:
http://blogs.news.com.au/queenbee/index.php/news/comments/tips_to_boost_your_business/47351
Tris
Although I agree that you must have a web site, I must disagree with two comments you made. One, that web site developers are a dime a dozen and you can find them anywhere. They are techno-nerds – they do not necessarily have any design training, and they sure as hell don’t know marketing. You can have a beautiful looking site, but without the marketing expertise in place, the site won’t turn a viewer into a customer.
Secondly, you said not to waste money on SEO – excuse me? It doesn’t matter how wonderful my site is if people can’t find it! Without the site being properly programmed for the search engines, you’re certainly going to be disappointed in the traffic you get.
I didn’t say not to waste your money on SEO. I specifically said not go overboard with it. A company trying to upsell you their SEO package is usually just trying to make an extra buck.
Matt Cutts from Google says using a platform like WordPress will take care of 90% of your SEO needs. The rest is just some good content and positioning. A blog can satisfy both of those needs.
I also stand by my statement that Web Developers are a dime a dozen. I hope anyone hiring someone to make their website will look at a developers previous works before hiring them. Don’t underestimate a developers knowledge of SEO and marketing just because they aren’t an agency. Most agencies end up hiring those same developers to help with marketing and development but it costs more in the end because you are going through the agency.
This is by no means my final judgement on the current status of the industry and there are definitely exceptions to the rule. This post was meant to educate businesses without a budget for a website and make them aware of possible alternatives.
Just thought I would point out you should do some basic SEO on your own site. You mentioned in your comment: “Without the site being properly programmed for the search engines, you’re certainly going to be disappointed in the traffic you get.”
Some things you might want to try on your site are:
– Removing your content from a table
– Adding ALT text to your images
– Use CSS to style fonts instead of the depreciated FONT tag
– Find a host with less downtime. Downtime can affect your search engine rankings. If your site is down for more than 48 hours you can lose rankings and deter spiders from coming back to your site.
The last one is important. Much more important than any SEO is making sure your site is up when people try go get to it. It can affect both you real world business and your SEO dramatically.
Good luck, hope it all pans out.