Do you have a website? If your answer is no, we need to talk; because you are one of the 59% of Australian Small Businesses that do not have an online home for your business.

A recent report, conducted by YouGov for GoDaddy, found that over 59% of Australian Businesses with under 20 employees did not have a website for their business.

That’s over half of local Australian Small Businesses not getting the opportunity to be found by their customers.

The report found that the main reasons why they didn’t have one included their business being too small (44%), it was too expensive (30%) and not having enough time to build or manage one (17%).

Not only are these reasons wrong, but they prove just how misinformed Australian’s are when it comes to websites.

So do you really need a website for your small business? Spoiler: Yes, yes you do. Keep reading to find out why.

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1. Your customers are shopping elsewhere

Your website is your online storefront. But if you are not online, it’s the same as not having a front door. Or windows for that matter. Your customers can’t find you, and might not even know you exist.

And they are shopping elsewhere.

If your website does not show up in search engines, how do you expect people to find you, or your products? While your social media is great for conversations with current clients and followers; they are not search engines. So unless you are handing out flyers with your phone number on it to everyone in your niche, how on earth do you expect to find new clients!?!

2. A website makes you more credible

How many times have you searched for a business only to be directed from Google to their Facebook Page? You might search around a bit for their website with no luck. Suddenly, the business has lost a little bit of credibility. Whether you like it or not, this is happening when you don’t have a website for your business.

Not having a website tells your customers that you are not ready to invest in your business. So how can you expect them to invest money into you?

3. Websites don’t have to be rocket science

If you’re new to the website game, you would be surprised how easily you can build and update websites these days. You do not need to know a single line of code to build a website. Additionally, website builders make the process of updating your website so easy without having to worry about hiring a professional developer to get it sorted for you.

4. Your Social media is not your website

One of the biggest mistakes any business owner can make is thinking that social media can be a website replacement (it’s not).

Not only are you at the mercy of the algorithm to display your posts to your followers but you actually don’t own your social media followers. Which means in the event of a platform crash or, God forbid, if the site is ever shut down, you will lose your following with nowhere else to connect with them.

While Social Media is a great start, a website is a tool to help you continue the conversation elsewhere. Whether that means generating leads, booking consultation calls or growing your email list, you need a website to showcase the features and benefits of your product or service.

5. A Website is cheaper than you think

One of the most important things I want small businesses to know is that your first website will probably not be your forever website. Your website can grow as your business does. You may not be able to afford a custom-coded fully kitted site straight off the bat. Don’t worry, most small businesses can’t. Luckily, there are several amazing drag and drop editors with quite a low monthly cost that you can easily manage yourself; meaning you can spend more money on other ways to grow your business.

(PS. If you want to learn more about custom site design on a platform that’s easy for you to manage, visit my services page.)

6. Expand your market

You won’t have to worry about listing in multiple directories when you have a website. You can easily adjust your keywords and SEO to suit whoever you want your business to reach. Yep. It’s that easy.

7. You owe it to your business

By investing in your website in time and money, what you are really investing in, is the success of your business. The earlier you have a website set up and working for you, the earlier you can expect to grow. You reap what you sow into your business, therefore investing in a quality, functional and results-driven website will repay dividends in the long run.

8. It will be your hardest-working employee

Which brings me to my last point. As a small business owner, more often than not, you probably don’t have the time or budget to hire someone to help you out. At times, you probably feel like a one-man-shows trying to manage all the different aspects of their businesses. Wouldn’t it be great to take the load off?

Having a website can help your clients find answers to their questions, book appointments, and ultimately, bring in sales. Better still, your website doesn’t take holidays, sick days and doesn’t need a time ineffective and costly training process!

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Did I miss anything?

If you are a small business ready to take the plunge and make the investment into your business, I encourage you to get in touch. I am offering FREE private consult calls to small businesses for the rest of 2019. Just on a video chat to get to know me in person and tell me all about your small business story (No sales pressure included!).

What are you waiting for? Make this epic investment into the success of your business. You will thank yourself later.

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