One essential consideration for your small business is how to grow visibility. How will new customers discover you? With 63.1% of the global population using the internet, the web is one of the best places to promote visibility for your small business. So today, we’re going to dive into websites for small businesses.
If you want to grow your business, having a website is crucial. Yet still, only less than 64% of small businesses have one. As a small business owner, a website is critical to increasing visibility and credibility. Customers will be more likely to do business with you if they can learn about your offer via your website.
But having a business for your website is much more than owning a domain. If you want to attract new customers continuously, it’s super important that you keep your website fresh and updated.
The good news is that this can be a manageable task! Having a fresh, modern website is super obtainable. And we have some tips on how to get started boosting your web presence.
We recently spoke about the importance of websites for small businesses on our podcast, A Little Marketing. Red Dream Studios’ Neal Caminsky joined us to discuss all things websites, the best platforms, the cost to get started, and more.
Neal Caminsky of Red Dream Studios in Montreal discusses websites for small businesses.
Here’s what Neal had to say:
Getting Started
Neal acknowledges that when building a website, many business owners are unsure where to start: “For many people…[websites] are a slightly foreign concept to them…they don’t know where to start.” And that’s okay if you’re not sure where to begin. After all, you’re an expert in your business, not web development! The good news is that getting started with a website for your small business is a rewarding and straightforward task if you know where to look. “If you hire the right people to do it for you, it can be a very pain-free task. The rewards can be enormous.”
The Process of Building a Website
For small business owners starting from scratch, a web developer like Neal can create a website that meets the objective of attracting new customers. Neal explains the process of building a website from scratch, “For them to start executing a site, they need to have some sort of framework in mind…a bulleted list of pages, a rough site map.”
From here, Neal uses this framework to address the “Four Ws and One H.” These include:
- Who is your audience?
- Why are you selling?
- Why is that person coming to your site?
- Where are you selling this product?
- Finally, how do you address the concerns of potential clients or customers?
Essentially, the website will have a goal and objective. Then, a good web developer can address customer questions or needs and meet that goal.
Neal explains how simple the process of getting a website up and running is for small business owners on their end, “I’ll speak with a client of what they’re trying to achieve…with a certain guideline, minimal text, we can build that out. Then, with great copywriting, we can fully establish the answers to those questions.”
It can be easy, and it can be inexpensive. You don’t even need to provide images. The people you hire will take care of all of the grunt work. All you need to do is write a brief statement of what your business does and the message you want to convey.
It also can be inexpensive. “In terms of cost and budget, small websites don’t have to cost a lot…I’ve done websites for as low as $1,000.” So it’s undoubtedly an excellent investment, regardless of how much you pay.
And for clients that already have a website, it’s essential to keep it fresh. How so? Make sure it’s easy to navigate, the copy should flow, and it should be able to address the 4 Ws and 1 H listed above.
The Bottom Line
Your small business must have a fresh, updated website that meets an objective. And it can be effortless and cost-effective to make this happen!
If you want to hear more of what Neal says on the topic, tune into Episode 020: You Need a Website, with Guest Expert Neal Caminsky here. And be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss the latest in small business strategies!
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