In 2020 many people are thinking that with the creation of social media and so many other online platforms and outlets, websites are now obsolete.
This isn’t true.
There are many reasons that a business needs a website, and here are the five biggest!

The Top Five Reasons Your Business Needs a Website

1. 30% of people won’t purchase from a business that doesn’t have a website.
   Without a website your business looks temporary and less professional.

2. It’s where your customers are! Over 90% of people start their research online when looking for a local business.

3. People judge a businesses credibility by their website. Yes it’s super important to have a website, but it’s also important that your website looks professional!

4. You can’t rely on social media for new customers. You might be on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn … but so is everyone else - and without a lot of work on content marketing and paying for promoted posts and adverts, it’s very hard to compete on a regular basis.
   With a website, after some research on keywords and a little knowhow, you can compete directly with the industry leaders.

5. It gives you somewhere to put everything you do; from galleries to projects, blogs to contact pages, competitions to case studies and everything inbetween, on your own website you can promote yourself whenever and however you wish without the fear of upsetting a group admin or going against the rules!

It should be fairly obvious why you need a website, but what’s the best way to do it? Questions I’m often asked by small business owners are ‘How do I build my own website?’ Which is the best website builder?’ ‘Whats’s the cheapest way to build a website?’ ‘What are website templates?’

As the owner of a small business, you probably don’t have thousands of pounds to splash out on a website, which means you’re left with a couple of options.
You can either create a website yourself or look around for a website creator who can work to your budget.

How To Build Your Own Website

If you are going to build your own website, there are many sites that offer drag and drop type page creation, and easy website templates, meaning that most of the layout and design elements are done for you. But many of those providers are limited in what they can offer, and if you’re wanting to add other features or connect to other services, you may find that you hit a brick wall.
Check out this guide to learn more about websites you can build yourself.

Just be warned that with many of the platforms offering free websites, there are add on fees for having your own domain name, for including other features and services, so be mindful that you will probably end up paying out for something.

If you’re wanting to build your own e-commerce website or online shop, then you’ll probably be looking at Shopify, which is a great way to go, as this review shows.

However, when my clients ask me to create a website, my go-to platform is Squarespace. For me it is the best website builder by far, and for various reasons. There are a variety of industry themed templates and they are easily customized. There is a free two week trial available, and you can also buy your domain name and organise your email and email marketing through the platform too.

Pricewise, Squarespace is competitive and great value. The hosting can be paid annually, or paid monthly and starts from just £13 a month.

Hiring a Website Developer

However, if you’re firmly in the camp of people who just can’t face, or don’t want to create your own website, you can hire a website developer to do it for you. This is a service I offer and can include logo design, personal branding, content creation and all the other elements needed. I charge a one off fee only for creating the website, and there is no limit to the numbers of pages you can have or what you can include, and you just pay for your hosting directly to Squarespace, which I set up for you.

When you’re deciding which website creator to use, just make sure that you’re on the same page as your designer, and that they ‘get’ your look and brand. Ask for examples of other sites they’ve done, and ALWAYS make sure you have access to the admin or back end of your website. If you use someone to build your website and they disappear or you lose contact it can be very difficult to be able to make any changes or updates, leaving you to have to start all over again!

Whichever you choose, you definitely need a website for your business, and if you need free advice, just get in touch!