Do small businesses really need websites?
Your business is active on social media with a healthy following and business is good. You’re a solo trader or have a small staff and no bandwidth to manage an extra platform, so you’ve skipped setting up your own website. After all, with your own space on Facebook or Instagram, things have been going well—why rock the boat?
If this sounds familiar, it’s time to rethink your online strategy. Because having your own website is one of the most important things for any business, but especially ones with small marketing budgets. We’ll say it again: having a website is crucial for your small business. Here’s why.
You’re at the mercy of changes outside your control. The thing about social media websites is that they’re in it to make money—for themselves, not you. If you direct all of your business’s efforts to your social accounts, you’re at the mercy of them anytime things change. For example, algorithms change and, in an instant, can affect how many people are seeing your content. You could go from thousands of views to double digits, and then spend the time working out what needs to happen to change that. Or you could invest some of that time on your own site.
Security can be an issue. This can happen anywhere, including on your own website, but security issues happen with more frequency on social media sites. Whether it’s an account claiming to be your business and telling followers they’ve won a prize to locking yourself out of your account and trying to contact an actual human for help (hint: nearly impossible), there are quite a few stick security situations you can find yourself in. It’s a huge annoyance in any instance, but if you have no space of your own, your online presence can be completely wiped out in a matter of clicks.
It looks less professional. Optics matter. When someone Googles your website, you want the website that shows up to be your own website and not a social media. When you’re a small business, every little thing that helps people feel confident in buying, visiting, or using your service matters. Having your own space on the web, even if it’s just one page, tells potential customers that your business is legitimate.
Does this mean that you shouldn’t be on social media at all? Not at all. Especially if you have a steady following, keeping up your social presence is a great way to stay connected with your audience and reach new people. But it should be a complement to your website and not your only website.
Getting a website with a location domain, like .melbourne, is a great way to set your website apart from similar ones. The good thing about your website it that you can make it as small or large as you’d like.
If you own a burrito food truck, for instance, you might initially keep your site to just one page where you list your hours, your daily location, and menu. But eventually you might want to flesh it out. You could add an About us page that explains a bit more about why you love burritos so much and what the food truck means to you.
On the menu page, you might give some more information about the ingredients you use and how they change depending on supplier availability. As your truck starts to grow in popularity, you might even set up an email list burrito aficionados can sign up for to keep up to date on new menu items and special offers for newsletter subscribers.
And no matter what happens—whether Facebook folds, a new social site pops up, the algorithm changes again and your posts reach a fraction of your audience—you’ll have complete control.