At the start of the New Year, it’s easy to set ambitious resolutions. However, your chances of reaching those goals vastly improves when you have the right foundation in place. That’s why ContentLEAD wants to make sure your business has the building blocks that will set you up for success this year.
Let’s start with the very basics: Do you have a sales-ready business website?
In 2014, a website might seem like a given, but it’s not always. Many small businesses still haven’t invested in a site for their companies, and they’re losing sales opportunities as a result.
52 percent of small businesses still don’t have a website
52 percent of small businesses still don’t have a website, according to the 2013 Small Business Sentiment Survey from Yodle.
Just 10 percent have mobile-optimized sites, which will become more important because mobile traffic is expected to outpace desktop search soon. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Now, let’s look at some common reasons why SMBs don’t create websites:
Myth: You already have a Facebook Page with basic business information, and some customers are fans. Doesn’t that count?
The truth is: Facebook marketing is a great way to keep in touch with customers and even reach new prospects, but it’s not a standalone strategy. Learn more in this article.
Myth: Offline marketing is the best way to reach your customers because you’re targeting people in your local community.
The truth is: Your ads in local publications probably reach local customers and get people in the door, but imagine how many more you could attract if you made your site visible to consumers who spend most of their time online. Need more convincing? Check out these articles:
Why you need a good website for any kind of customer
Blog tips drive web conversions: What the home improvement industry is doing right
Myth: You can’t afford a website, or spend time maintaining it.
The truth is: You can’t afford not to have a website. The majority of consumers do look for businesses online. Around 16 percent said they did so every week in 2012, and consumers increasingly use the information they find online to guide their purchase decisions. Find out how web search impacted holiday buying habits here and how many sales it drove.
84 percent of Americans use Google to search for businesses and products online
5 reasons why you need a website:
84 percent of Americans use Google to search for businesses and products online
82 percent of people will feel better about buying from you if you have a presence online
A website can be the difference between them buying from you or someone else: 88 percent of B2B buyers say digital content influences their buying decisions
More customers are buying online, and you’ll lose those sales without one. By 2017, 81 percent of consumers will be ecommerce shoppers
Your competitors already have sites, and you can’t afford to fall further behind
While half of SMBs don’t have websites, another 48 percent have taken the leap online. Consumers will find those companies when they search for products and services online. At this point in time, you don’t need to be a web designer or an IT wizard to build a functional and easy-to-navigate domain. There are numerous platforms, freelancers and agencies that offer technical services that can get you from zero to web-savvy this year.
A good small business website should have:
A homepage that links to primary landing pages for products, services and blog content
NAP data on every page: The business name, address and phone number
Optimized product or service pages
Fresh, relevant website content to increase indexing for targeted keywords
Social sharing buttons to promote content distribution
Small businesses need to get in the internet marketing game to be competitive in the current marketplace, and it all starts with a website. To learn more about how to make money with website, check out this blog post.
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