In part 1 of this article, we discussed how the consumers have adapted in today’s modern world and how having a website could greatly affect a business. We also talked about to 8 reasons why it’s a must for a business to have a website.
Let’s continue to gain knowledge, whether having a website for your business is the right thing to do. We will go in-depth with following topics:
- Debunking the common objections
- The cost of building your own website
- Ways on how you can make a business website
Debunking The Common Objections Of Having Your Own Website
Most of the small businesses that do not have websites are commonly misguided and below are the details on the usual objections and the typical replies.
Objection 1: ‘I only have a small business, and I don’t have an extra budget to build my own website’
This is the first and yet the most common objection for most of the small-business owners. Your top digital marketing asset is your website. If you say you don’t have the budget for it. It’s like you’re saying you don’t have money for a company license. In the long run, you’ll be in trouble if you won’t provide that initial investment.
You don’t need to invest in a very fancy and costly website. For a start, think of its existence so that search engines will know that your business is there.
Objection 2: ‘I don’t need a website since I have enough businesses already’
No matter how many businesses you own, you still need to have a website, period. There’s an article that can argue on this objection, and it was about owning a website. And here’s how the story went:
There was an individual who went to a popular in their local area and tried to sell a website to the owners. The restaurant was situated well, overlooking beautiful scenery. It was winter and a weekday, so this website seller thought that it would be a slow business due to the weather and schedule, and that it would be possible to talk to the owner briefly.
The owner was gracious enough to give her time and full attention and was even taking down notes from the discussion. The website seller was confident in closing this deal and asked, ‘would you be interested to hear more about having a website’?
The owner explained that their place was originally opened as a bait and tackle shop. People were asking for coffee, so they provided it. There were others that asked for sandwiches, which was provided too. They later wanted tables and chairs where they could sit down and eat their sandwich and chat, so they began serving lunches. And that led to dinners. The room was not enough so a screened porch was added for summer time. Customers loved the porch that they winterized for the months that are colder. Every day was just too busy, and they can’t buy themselves some time off. They did not advertise because they were too tired and if having a website means bringing more people in; it’s a ‘NO’ for them.
Reading and reflecting on this story, something could have been done. The business owner was wrong.
A website is not just built to add new clients in the business. Today, research showed that most people are using their mobile phones and other types of gadgets to look up dining directions, locations, store hours and more.
If you have a restaurant, you could use it as an advantage to inform specific operating hours or even notify your customers that you are closed for a certain reason. You can post your special menus for the day, make use of reservation feature and post other menu items that you can offer for those who are in a hurry or on the go. You can also post your contact information to allow your customers to reach you for reservation, caterings, special events, etc. Having a website allows you to expand in a more organized manner. You can start making and posting videos of your restaurant, your menus, recipes; healthy food blogs, etc. Doing so will allow your business to become more popular not just in your local area, but also nationwide or even internationally.
Objection 3: ‘I know someone who can make me a website for free’
Well, good for you that you know someone but the question is, is that someone a web designer by any chance? If not, then it’s a bad idea to trust your business website to someone who is not technically good in building one. It’s not just about web design; it entails a lot of work when optimizing a website. For a start, a basic on-page Search Engine Optimization should be applied; the design needs to be responsive, file compression, schema mark-up, etc. It should be built correctly to ensure success.
Objection 4: ‘Our clients are not fond of using computers’
Are you sure? It seems like the person with this objection forgot that the users of desktop computer is just one thing. What about the users who are browsing through websites, apps and social media using their mobile phones and gadgets? For the first time in 2016, the mobile web traffic was greater than desktop Internet traffic.
Objection 5: ‘I don’t need to have a website for my business since I am in a different industry, and my business is not an online business or e-commerce’
This is actually one of the biggest misconceptions that business owners have. Whatever industry you’re in, you need a website. Even B2B customers are looking for their suppliers with help of websites. Consumers trust companies with websites. There are many businesses in the Internet that are not even e-commerce, and yet they managed to increase their sales and grow with the help of their optimized site.
The Cost Of Building Your Own Website
This topic is attention-grabbing and maybe you are interested to know too. A website can start for free and may range over up to $6,000. Let’s say you want to do it yourself or DIY using a platform called SquareSpace; you’ll only pay a minimal fee each month for you to lease the spot available. You can also choose to have a fully customized website with the help of a professional web design company that can make adjustments for your business’ needs, and it’s going to cost you about a few thousand dollars.
However, don’t let the price determine your decision in building your own website. Even if you’re only a ‘solopreneur’ with no extra budget for it, you can at least build a basic website and just upgrade it later if your finances allows. Here’s what you get when you invest in having a website:
- Domain Hosting – it shows as ‘yourbusinessname.sg’ with a yearly renewal payment
- Web Hosting – a company or service that provides space on a server to host your site
- Website Design – the designs may be free or at a cost
- Intricacy of the design – it’ll be more costly if your website has a lot of customization and features
- Plugins – it’s going to cost more if you want specific plugins
Ways On How You Can Create A Business Website
You need to understand website ownership and the terminology of web contracts.
Website design platforms are not created equally but there are four of them that are good for beginners.
- WordPress
This is common, and a lot of business owners are hosted by it. It is tremendously user-friendly, adaptable and straightforward about website ownership. You can build a basic and free website here and even upgrade it later.
- SquareSpace
This is another excellent platform for e-commerce and beginners. It’s very simple to use, and the transition to another platform is easy as well when you are ready to do it. However, you don’t “own” the website here, you only “lease” it, so be careful.
- Unbounce
This is awesome for small projects and web pages that are single. It’s usually used for a microsite campaign or one-off landing page campaign. You can make it from scratch or use a template that you can choose from.
- Drupal
This is advanced but a great substitute to WordPress. Doing DIY in this platform is not recommended.
Finally: Nothing can compare the value of having a website than being left behind in this modern age. A recent study was conducted by Capital One, and they found out that only 56% of companies said that they have their own website. What does that tell you?
- It means 56% are companies that are doing better than your business.
- 44% of businesses that do not own a website are an opportunity for you to beat them if you have your own site.
Many will tell you that you don’t need to have one, but this is wrong. You don’t want to be like the business owner whom we discussed earlier, right? Having a website will not only open the door for an opportunity of having new clients, and also help you create a better business. You can improve your way of managing the growth of your business and organize so many details to help you boost not just your ROI but the operation of your business as a whole efficiently.
