Does Your Brand Really Need a Website?

Your digital brand is spread throughout the Internet and your consumers are constantly engaging on many digital platforms. So, does your brand really need a website? 

Creating a website is a great way for people to find, get informed, and take you up on your offer.  But is a website necessary to be in business online? Do you really need a website?

Does Your Brand Really Need a Website?

It is likely that you already using the internet to find information, you’ve found this site after all. In the same way that you look for information, other people are looking for information. Make yourself visible to them by having a website.

Top 3 Reasons to Have a Website

#1 Your Customers are Already Searching For You Online

Does Your Brand Really Need a Website?

The number one thing to have for your marketing plan is a website. There are over 400,000 searches taking place online every second. That is a lot of potential exposure for your business.

This is especially true considering that 97% of consumers search for businesses and services online. Add that number to the 58% of small businesses who don’t have a website, and it just doesn’t add up!

Your brand will need a website to keep up with consumer searches because without one they will give their product needs to the next best business.

#2 Having an Online Presence Will Build Your Credibility

Not having a website in this day and age is akin to keeping your brand label off of your business endeavors. It’s like taking your company name off of your building or company vehicle. It just doesn’t make sense!

Your brand will need a website to build your credibility. Without a website, customers will be left wondering what your business is about, something that will lead them to work with other businesses whose intentions are clear.

#3 Real-World Customer Connections Happen on Websites

There are several important things that happen on brand websites:

  • Customers learn about your services
  • People can send you a direct email
  • Visitors can sign up for a newsletter
  • People can read past customer reviews
  • Customers can share your website with friends or family
  • Visitors can get directions to your physical location

You need a website because it is your single most important marketing tool. A website can serve and retain your current customers, and be influential in finding new customers.

89.3% of customers will take to the internet to make a purchasing decision.

This is why having a website can translate views into results, including leads and sales. Your brand will definitely need a website to get these kinds of results.

What Does Your Website Need?

Your website development doesn’t have to be complicated. The first thing you need to do before creating a website is determining its needs and goals.

Who is your audience?

Who is it that you’re trying to reach? You’ll need to identify and understand your target audience to be effective.

Determining demographics like age, gender, and location should be your first step.

You should also research what kinds of social media sites your audience prefers to use.

Take a look at your content and make sure that it is relevant and important to your target audience.

What should your domain name be?

Your domain name is the unique name that your users will need to remember in order to find you on the internet.

It is usually smart to use your company name or something similar. This makes sure that your visitors will be able to easily find you and make the connection between your brand and your website.

It is important that your name be unique, memorable, hyphen-free, and less than 15 characters long.

How will your website fit into your other marketing efforts?

When fitting your website into your other marketing, it is important to think of all the ways you can let your customers and prospective customers know about your website. Your website should be as easy to access as your phone number.

You can promote your website on:

  • Business cards
  • Radio ads and brochures
  • Your email signature
  • Your voicemail message
  • Invoices, bills, receipts
  • Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin profiles
  • Graphics or decals on vehicles
  • Directory listings

10 Website Essentials

For your website to be as easy to find and effective as possible, it needs to have these ten essentials.

1. Use Keywords

Search engines won’t be able to find your page or content if it doesn’t know what the most important information on your website is.

There are three main areas to make sure your keywords are: title tag, meta description, and meta keywords.

Common information you can use for your keywords are typically your business name and key people, the products or services your brand provides, your geographical location, and phrases your customers are most likely to search for.

2. Add Multiple Points of Contact

You want visitors to be able to find you as easy as possible. This means that your phone number should be prominent on the top and bottom of your website.

It also means that it is beneficial to create a contact page. This will include your website name, phone number, a map, address, directions, hours of business, and even a form to fill out for more information.

3. Be Professional and Consistent

Your website should have a look that matches your brand. Use colors that match the theme of your brand logo and stick to just a few fonts that complement each other.

Keep emojis strickly in emails, and fill your website with professional looking photos.

If you have any doubts about what to do, just remember to keep it simple.

4. Include a Call-to-Action

Adding a call-to-action encourages your visitors to take action. Usually, this action is to contact your business.

Does Your Brand Really Need a Website?

Examples of call-to-actions include:

  • Learn more
  • Call now
  • Free consultation
  • Get a price quote
  • Make an appointment
  • Request a Demo
  • Sign up for a newsletter
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Visit us (with a link to a map)

5. Make Sure Your Page is Easy to Read

People typically scan information rather than reading it. When visitors scan your website, it is important to follow the F formation. Put important information on the left side and top lines of your website.

Be sure to include bold headlines and subheadings to increase the ease of scanning.

6. Make Sure that Your Site is Easy to Navigate

Your navigation tabs and buttons should be identical across every page. They should also follow the same F formation as your important information.

Your primary navigation tabs should be limited to eight tabs or less, with five being ideal. The clickable elements of your buttons should also be identical. This means that your font, size, and styling elements are the same on every page.

7. Put Your Important Information in the Top Half of Your Page

Most visitors will only read 28% of the words on a webpage. This means that you should keep your important information in the top half of your page so that it doesn’t get skipped over.

Your business name or logo should be in a prominent spot. Also, you should emphasize what you do with a strong headline.

8. Ensure that Your Site Loads Quickly

If your website takes longer than a few seconds to load, it is very probable that your customers will abandon it in favor of your competition.

Makes sure that your website loads quickly by keeping your image sizes low, and limit the number of widgets, videos, photos, and social media sharing photos on your website.

9. Build Trust

Does Your Brand Really Need a Website?

Including examples of your work, testimonials from happy customers links to newspapers that featured your business. any awards you received and any organizations you belong to will let your customers get to know you. This, in turn, will build trust and credibility.

10. Be on Social Media

Connecting on social media is a great way to spread the word about your brand and increase traffic to your website. 73% of online adults use social media, so it will still be relevant to your target audience.

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, and SnapChat are all great options for connecting with your target audience.

SEE ALSO: The Anatomy Of An Optimized Website

Benefits of Making Your Website Mobile

Over 56% of the world’s population has a smartphone, and 66% of people use the internet on their phone every day.

There are a few key ways that mobile websites are different from their desktop counterparts.

The first way is that they are designed for smaller screens with minimal scrolling. The text and photos will already be sized down to fit a smartphone screen.

Mobile websites also have clickable phone numbers to dial companies right away. On the same hand, they include easy-to-access location information. This can include clickable maps and links to directions.

Additionally, they load quickly and have ‘thumb-friendly’ links, search boxes, and buttons.

Final Thoughts

An effective website has a clean design and remains simple so that your customers have a clear path to the call-to-action you’re looking for them to take.

Your business will need a website in order to stay active and relevant with your target audience. A website will make you visible and easy to find. Not having a website means that when your customers get online to find you, they’ll find your competitors instead.

Have you had difficulties creating a website?

Written by
Juntae DeLane

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