21st century is the time of online businesses. Hundreds of thousands of online stores are popping up every year and making a killing through e-commerce.
Even if you are a brick and mortar store, or a local business, you should consider investing into creating a strong online presence.
Many local businesses have reached more customers in their area, as well gotten the opportunity to scale their business in light of data backed customer demand.
Why should you have a website.
E-commerce forms a 4.28 trillion USD industry worldwide.
More and more people either shop online, or doing their preliminary research online before they make a purchase.
Consumers are open to trying out new brands (forgoing brand loyalty) if:
- You reach them when they are looking to shop.
- You offer them educational content to guide their purchases.
In such a scenario, an online website for your offline store or a completely online store offers these distinct advantages:
A physical store is not open 24/7 but a website is.
Customers can browse your catalog anytime, send you queries any time, and order while you sleep.
You will keep making money while you rest. Moreover, potential businesses can reach you for custom orders, making you big money. They might not be able to find you or willing to approach you, offline.
Also, a physical store is limited in its reach – a website, on the other hand, can reach a global audience!
Opportunity to convert visitors into buyers.
A first time comer to your store may peruse your products but not buy.
A physical store without an online presence cannot do much but when things are online, there is a lot of room for making a sale down the line. Why?
Because of data.
With tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc you can pinpoint which stage of your purchase process is losing customers, which pages are underperforming, your visitor demographics, etc.
Are people opening your product pages but not making a purchase? Maybe add more product images or testimonials.
Are they are adding to cart but not purchasing? Perhaps experiment with discount codes or free shipping.
If you have data and analytic tools, you can optimize every step of the conversion process.
With a properly set website, you can build an online community centered around your niche and advertise to it, again and again.
Because these people are already interested in the value you offer, you will get much higher return on investment.
Your ads have to point to something.
Imagine a very ordinary scenario.
You invested in Facebook ads. You got some good product pictures, catchy headlines, and amazing offers and ran the ad.
A potential customer sees it. They like what you are selling. Coming back to the bakery example, maybe you are advertising your brownies.
Your ad could do things at this point. If it is pointed to your local address, what are the chances the viewer will remember your store name and exact address when they are out shopping?
Maybe, you were smarter and put in a contact number for order placement. What are the chances they will copy the number, paste it into the dial pad, and have a voice call?
It is really hard to convince people to buy when they are in your actual store. It is near impossible to get them to buy off a single picture in an ad.
Unless you have a website.
Same ad. But, now it points to your business website.
The Customer clicks the link, and they see a beautifully designed page with delectable brownies, cakes, and snacks.
It is almost as if they are in your bakery. They open your about page and find it more about your business.
It does not feel like they are buying from a faceless corporate. The experience can become as personal and unique as you make it to be.
Do you think after such investment of time and emotion people won’t buy? Market studies again and again prove that customers are more likely to buy if they feel an emotional connect.
An online presence is the easiest way to do that.
Moreover, instead of over-crowding the ad, you can add even more offers on your site or combo deals.
The customer might end up purchasing a lot more than what you showed them in your ad.
Don’t put all your eggs (ads) in one basket.
If you have worked with any ad platform, they all have their own policies and automated systems to ensure compliance. Your ads maybe erroneously flagged and taken down or their ad platform might run into some issues. Even temporary disruptions cost money.
A Search Engine Optimized website reduces such dependence on paid advertising. If you build a good online presence and rank higher in searches through SEO blogs, you will unlock a far superior (though a bit slower) form of customer acquisition method – organic traffic!
These are people who are searching for what you offer. If they find your site from web searches naturally, you acquire a potential buyer without spending a penny on advertisement!
Things to keep in mind for your website.
Now, that you understand how important websites are to build an audience, brand authority, and influence customer perception, let’s talk about some pointers to do it right.
People leave a website:
- If it is slow to load.
- Looks spammy – autoplaying sound, too many pop-ups.
- Feels unprofessional/less trustworthy.
So, make sure your website is:
- Fast.
- Built with a clean professional theme.
- Good design
- Simple and easy to navigate.
- Has Relevant calls to actions, offers.
With websites, less confusion means more conversions. So, keep it simple. Keep it authentic.
And, above all, keep it valuable and informational from a customer’s point of view.
Whether your readers come to your website for information, expertise, or your products, they’ll come back again and again, bringing others in their social network with them, as long as you’re meeting their expectations.
In this online era, websites offer a path like no other to higher conversions, better sales, targeted marketing, and a more tailored customer experience.
For more such insights and highly practical digital marketing advice, check out this ebook!
