Getting a Return on Your Investment
Everyone who has ever built a business can tell you that you need to spend money to make money. They’ll also tell you that not all of your spending is going to come back to you as quickly or as plentifully as you want it to.
There’s hardly a Small Business Owner in the world for whom budgets and cash flow don’t take up a great deal of their thoughts, and when you’re a nimble little business with limited funds, every dollar has to be invested wisely.
One investment that’s well worth making is building yourself a business website. Every dollar put into a well-built business website will come back as profits thanks to the wide variety of features they offer you and your Customers.
Want to know more about how to get a return on your investment? Read on to find out.
Everyone Expects It
So what can a business website do for you? How is it going to justify the money you spend on it?
Well the first thing to know about building a business website is that Customers expect it, and
you need to make sure you’re meeting their expectations. Businesses of all sizes have websites now, that’s just the way things are. If you don’t have one, your Customers are going to wonder why.
In today’s hyper online world, a business without a website is invisible to most people, and treated by some others as if it doesn’t exist. If you don’t have a home on the internet that’s easily searchable by your Customers, is your business even real?
A lot of people lean towards no. Without a website that Customers can look at to confirm your story, many people are going to consider you as some sort of fly-by-night operation.
That alone is enough to make building yourself a business website worth it, but it’s far from the only reason to get cracking on setting up your own site.
Everyone is Online
It really can’t be overstated how important the web is to everyone living their lives today. This vast global network connects millions of people and facilitates the trillions of dollars worth of Ecommerce sales that happen around the world each year.
In 2021 a whopping 89% of Aussies were active users of the world wide web, that's almost 23 million Customers that you can be getting your brand in front of. On top of that, there's more than 9 million Customers making purchases online, a fantastic figure for anyone wanting to dive into Ecommerce.
The sheer volume of online users and Ecommerce traffic goes a long way to helping you see a return on your investment into setting up shop in the digital world.
It’s hard to find a better place to advertise yourself than on the internet, and with a well-developed website you can do just that, as well as selling, communicating, and whatever else you want to do.
The online world is enormous and offers near limitless possibilities, taking the time to make yourself a part of that world is always going to be well worth it.
Inform Your Customers
The enormous power of the internet lies in communication. The ability to communicate instantly with people anywhere in the world opens up opportunities that no other form of communication can match, and it’s communication that is the key to a successful business.
A website makes keeping your Customers informed super easy, allowing you to simultaneously communicate with hundreds of people in dozens of ways, and all without leaving the office.
Here’s some of the ways you can make use of your website to inform and communicate with your Customers:
- Announce sales
- Display changed opening hours
- Show off reviews and testimonials
- Display your newest products
- Build an FAQ
- Tell Your Story
That last one especially is something that’s hard to replicate elsewhere. If you’re looking to tell the story of what your brand is and who you are, a website is the best place to do it, as it allows you the most control over the telling of the story.
Whatever you need to tell your Customers, a website is a fantastic place to do it.
You Have Full Control
Social Media is an incredibly popular place to set up a brand’s online presence, and for good reason. Social Media platforms have huge audiences ready to be accessed, and getting set up is easy and free.
Many Small Business Owners will build a Facebook page and declare their online presence complete.
This is a mistake.
There is one extreme drawback to relying on these platforms that many people completely fail to consider. When you sign up to use their service, you’re bound by all of the terms and conditions they impose, and have to accept the risk that they could change or remove your account at any time.
If your entire online presence is reliant on someone else graciously allowing you to use their website, you’re at their mercy. The much safer option is to have your own website, one that you control and can rely on to always be there in the form you expect.
Social Media platforms also inevitably have limitations on what you can do with them. You may be able to build a community on Facebook, but if you want to get that community making purchases on your online store, you’ll need to set that store up somewhere else.
There’s a cost involved, and the set up is going to take a bit more work than just making a Facebook page, but it comes with complete freedom and the guarantee that the time and money you invest in it isn’t going to disappear for no reason.
Safety and control is what you get when you invest in your own website.
Create a Central Touchpoint To Aid Your Sales Funnel
The days of limited communication channels are long gone, there are dozens of ways to make contact with your Customers now, and many of them are worth pursuing, but only one is mandatory.
That one option is, you guessed it, a business website. By offering a centralised point of contact that most of your Customers will go through, you’re able to more effectively control their experience and make it easier to sell to them.
Each one of your Customers goes on a journey as they progress down the sales funnel, from awareness, to interest, to decision, to action. The quicker you can move them down the funnel, the quicker you can make your sale.
A great way to achieve this is by having a central location that can perform multiple functions, taking your Customers through several stages of the process without them needing to move about.
A website is a fantastic way to achieve this. It can easily perform the awareness part of the funnel, and from there it’s just a short hop to where it can spark interest.
It may need some help in bringing your Customers to a decision, but Customers that contact you directly after visiting your Site will be well placed for you to convert them to that next stage. Finally, with a few well-placed Calls To Action, the action portion of the funnel is easily implemented.
The better your understanding of your Customers, the more easily you can sell to them, and the more easily you can give them a positive experience that will have them and their friends coming back for more.
By standardising the experience of your Customers, you can better understand them, streamline your sales funnel, make more money, and have happier Customers.
Build Your Credibility
As we covered above, your Customers expect you to have a website, so you need to build one if you want them to take you seriously. Its usefulness doesn’t stop at just ticking a box though, there’s more it can do to help you build your credibility.
You can also leverage it to provide social proof, especially by showing off your expertise, your existing happy Customers, and by being available, approachable, and transparent.
Customers are only happy to spend their money when it’s with a brand that they know, like, and trust.
You can help them to like and trust you by showcasing some glowing reviews from happy Customers you’ve helped before, it’s as easy as plucking a few reviews of your brand’s Google My Business and giving them a prominent place to live on your Site.
If you’re looking to go the extra mile, you can bring in some of those happy Customers to record some testimonials to display on your website.
You can also use your website to ensure you’re always available and easily approachable when Customers need you to be. This can be as simple as having some business information written up for them to browse anytime they like, or go as far as to set up automated contact forms and chatbots to answer questions in more depth.
Whatever your Site is offering, make sure you maintain transparency throughout it all. A brand who says one thing and does another is a brand that will soon find itself devoid of Customers. Make sure nothing on your website contradicts itself, and also ensure that it matches up with what you’re telling Customers elsewhere.
Don’t forget to also show off your expertise in the industry you work in. Whether through your product write ups, a list of your services, an FAQ page, or by writing some blogs, make sure to let everyone know how extensive your knowledge of your field is.
Experts backed up by recommendations from real people are trusted by Customers, and businesses that are trusted make sales.
Open Yourself to Organic Traffic
Every business needs to make sales to survive and grow, that’s the ultimate end goal behind every decision you make as a Small Business Owner. To get those sales you need Customers, and to get those Customers you need to first attract leads.
You can do this in a number of ways, like running various advertising campaigns of both the traditional and Pay Per Click variety, but one of the ways is through organic traffic.
Organic traffic is traffic derived from Customers finding your brand all on their own, the opposite of paid traffic coming from an ad campaign directing them to you.
This organically acquired website traffic offers an immense opportunity to generate leads, Google is estimated to process 5.6 billion searches every day, getting even a fraction of a percent of those onto your Site is a massive windfall.
With a little bit of work on your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) you can get your Site ranking high on the searches that matter most to you, putting you above your competition and more likely to be the one to nab the Customers you’re competing for.
A slice of the pie can be yours, but how big it is depends on whether you’re willing to put in the work to see the rewards.
Of course that can’t happen if you don’t have a website, another reason why building one is well worth the money spent. Without a website you’re cut off from one of the biggest sources of leads around.
Make Marketing Easy
If we’re looking to break down what marketing is all about, three main goals emerge. These are to make people aware of your brand, to convince them it’s something they want or need, and finally to direct them to where they can make a purchase or learn more than they can from the limited amount that can be squeezed into an advertisement.
As discussed above, organic searches are a fantastic way to satisfy your need to make Customers aware that your business exists, so tick that off the list.
Then there’s convincing them that your business is the one they should be trusting to solve their problems, a process that takes time and proof. Well guess what a website gives you plenty of opportunity to do? That’s right, plenty of space and time to sell your brand to Customers.
Then of course there’s the crucial question of where you can send them when they’re ready to seal the deal. If your marketing is located in an external location somewhere in the digital or physical world, then your website is a convenient place to direct Customers.
If a Customer is already on your website, then things are even easier, simply direct them to a page within your Site that allows them to take the next step. This can be a digital checkout, an order form, or just a contact page so they get in touch with a member of your team.
However you like to market yourself and whatever your current goal is, a website will make it easier and more effective.
Automate Your Business
There are only so many hours in the day, a fact all Small Business Owners are no doubt acutely aware of. So when trying to maximise the return on your investments, a major factor is going to be maximising the amount of work you can get done with your limited and precious time.
Automating everything you can is a great way to increase your output without increasing the hours you spend at the office, and a well equipped website is one of the easiest ways to save yourself time while still offering your Customers reliable service.
Your website can provide visitors with the answers to common questions that would otherwise have to be fielded by you or your team, freeing up your time to be spent on things that require a personal touch.
Even better than that, your website can keep working when you’re not. Whether it’s the weekend, holidays, the middle of the night, or any other time a Customer might want their questions answered, your website is there to take care of it.
Build What You Need
Buying something you don’t need is always going to end up costing you, and that rule holds true with your online presence. It’s important when building your website not to spend more money than you can afford to.
You can do this both by making sure you’re building something you actually need, and also ensuring that you’re not overpaying for it.
Self Serve Sites can help you out with both of those considerations. Get in touch with a member of our team and they’ll help you decide how much website you need to achieve your goals, as well as help you stick to your budget.
We understand that Small Businesses need Small Business pricing, and that’s what we work to provide all our clients. We’ll work with you to provide the product you need at a price that will ensure it won’t take long to make back what you spend.
If you’ve been putting off investing in a website because of the cost and difficulty, let us show you how easy and affordable it can be.
To reach out to a member of our team and discuss what we can do for you, you can contact us through this form.
Website Benefits Work Long Term
One of the most important things to consider when making a business investment is to investigate how long the benefits from your spending are going to last.
Some investments, like paid marketing, stop returning results almost entirely once you stop putting money into them. They’re powerful tools, but not a viable long term plan unless you’re happy to continue splashing about the cash.
By contrast, a well built website continues to pay dividends for years after the initial investment has been made. By continuing to make small tweaks and refinements and spending a bit of time to make sure it remains up to date, a website can give you an incredible return on your investment.
Even better, some elements of your website actually get better with the passing of time.
The Search Engine Optimisation of your Site grows steadily better as the Site ages, search engines rank older Sites as being more trustworthy than those that have just sprung up.
And don’t forget that the whole time your website is operating you’re collecting valuable information on the habits of your Customers. Over time that information can be used to build up a more accurate picture of what your Customers want and need, allowing you to refine your Site and enhance the value it offers to both them and yourself.
Remember, a good website gives you access to the phenomenal number of people living and working in the online world, and with the affordable prices Self Serve Sites offers you, the value you stand to gain is incredible.
If you’ve been against the idea of investing in a website, or just sitting on the fence, undecided as to whether it’s worth it, we hope we’ve managed to convince you.
A business website is an essential investment all Small Businesses need to make if they want to survive and thrive in our online focused world. If you haven’t got a website yet, it’s time to fix that.
And if you need expert help at an affordable price, give us a call.
