When Does your Small Business need a Website?

If you own a small business, and if you’re reading this article, having a website is probably on your radar. Maybe you’ve had people suggest getting a website to you, or maybe you just know the importance of having a website for your business nowadays, because everyone uses the internet.

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However, a lot more comes into play than just that you have a business, and a lot of people use the internet. The first thing you have to look at is what your business offers. If you sell construction services to large companies, chances are you won’t need a website at all to get your first handful of large contracts. 

On the other hand, if you sell cat toys for $5 each, you could address a huge amount of people online through social media influencers, paid blog post placements, Google shopping ads, and more. All of this would link back to your website.

Now, if you’re already doing well with your business, a website is a crucial part of people being able to find, and learn about your business, but don’t rush it. Having a slow, confusing website design that explains your business terribly is almost (if not) worse than having no website at all. 

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Another really important factor in deciding when your business needs a website is who your customers are. If they’re not a very tech savvy bunch, they don’t like paying online, and the ticket price of your items is a lot higher, a website probably shouldn’t be on the top of your priority list.

On the other hand, if your target market is a younger, technically inclined group of people, chances are, they will head straight to Google when considering purchasing from you. So, if you don’t have a website, they’re likely to see your competitors pop up, and you just lost a sale.

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It’s more important than just having a website though- people like to shop around online, because of course everything is just at the click of a button. That being said, if your competitors have much better websites than you, it probably won’t do you any good.
My final words: Your number one focus should be making your business bring as much value to your target market as possible, but if they can’t find you, you’re bound to miss out on sales.