What’s your excuse for not having a company website?

In today’s technological world, if you need to find a telephone number, address or information about a product, where’s the first place you look? For most people, their first port of call will be online. People automatically use search engines to compare prices and learn about products. But despite this, a significant number of small businesses are missing out by not having an online presence. If this applies to you, what’s stopping you?

Lloyd Bank’s first annual UK Business Digital Index released in April contains some interesting insights on the attitudes and digital technology use of small businesses and charities. From their respondents, they found that:

• half didn’t have a website or social media presence
• almost 1/3 didn’t think being online was relevant for their business
• 11% stated that they didn’t use or have access to the internet
• 75% are not investing in improving their digital skills

It also found a correlation between digitally mature companies and confidence in the economy and their business.

These findings echo a Google and Ipsos study, which worked out that 55% of all US small businesses didn’t have a website. However, a 2013 study by Verisign called Benefits and barriers of bringing a small business online  found that 88% of UK small businesses had a website. However of those who didn’t, 40% weren’t intending to create one.

Business barriers to an online presence

According to Verisign’s report, the main barriers to creating a website were ongoing maintenance and worries about security, but there are plenty of other reasons. Can you relate to any of these?

You don’t think you need one

Perhaps your business is well-established and as you’ve managed for so many years without one, you don’t think you really need one now? If you’re an independent, local business, you may rely on word of mouth, passing trade and listings on the major online directories and find you get enough trade from these, so don’t see the point investing time, energy and money in something you don’t (think you) need.

While this may be true – not every business wants or has the capacity to grow substantially – you need to remember that your potential future customers are increasingly searching online for services and recommendations. If your business isn’t easy to find online, this could affect your revenue in the longer term.

Some businesses have invested their time in social media rather than creating their own website.  After all, you can provide images, updates, contacts and information about your business on Facebook or Google+ and the latter can also help you to be found on its search engine through its Google My Business product.

You lack the resources or motivation to create one

Are you among those who don’t need convincing? You know your business would benefit from having a website but you’ve never quite got around to it – there are so many other things on your never-ending to do list and at the moment you’re managing just fine without one.  

You know it will take time, money and effort to create a website, even if you outsource the actual work, so it’s one of those tasks that always seems to be stuck in the ‘at-some-point-in-the-future’ list. If this is you, skip down a few paragraphs to our list outlining the benefits of a company website.

You’re unsure what you need or where to start

Another barrier to developing a website is a lack of technical knowledge. Should you try to create a website yourself, hire a freelancer to do it for you or go for one of the many hosting and website building packages available?

The reality is that there is no ‘best’ way to do things – it will depend on how much time you have, how much you want to do yourself or how much you want to be involved and what you want your website to achieve. If it’s a simple static website, you may find a package is the cheapest and easiest options – after all you can change and upgrade your website to something fancier at a later date. However, if you want to go all-out on an e-commerce website, you may need more support.

It can also be overwhelming when you’re looking at the multitude of options available to you.  This indecision or fear of getting it wrong or wasting time can stop you in your tracks before you’ve even started.  

Reasons why you should have a business website

• It increases your credibility and increases brand awareness. 56% of consumers in America don’t trust a business without a website according to Weebly’s infographic and Verisign’s study found that of the businesses that had a company website, 65% thought it made their business look more credible.
• It’s available 24/7. Unlike a physical shop or other customer contact points, a website can be accessed at all hours of the day, which means your customers can visit it and find out more about your products and services when it’s convenient to them, not just when you’re available.
• It’s a low cost way to advertise your business. Yes, it takes some money to set up and maintain, but it can still be cheaper than updating and distributing printed materials or physical ads in magazines and newspapers.
• It’s flexible. You can start small and have a static website, and build up the content and functionality gradually as you have the time and/or money.  While this means that it’s never ‘finished’ like other products, the ability to change it based on your customers’ needs is a real advantage.
• It’s instant. Unlike updating printed adverts, you can update information on your website and the changes will take effect immediately.
• You have control over it. Unlike Facebook pages, where settings and functionality may change for the better or worse, you control how you want your website pages to appear and what’s available to your customers.  
• It can save you time. A company website can reduce the number of queries you get about a product or service. By having the answers to common questions online, you can spend less time answering these questions, leaving you more time to concentrate on the core of your business.
• It increases leads and sales. If you market your website properly, it can become an important source of leads and sales. Plus you can capture information about your potential customer base and improve your products based on web analytics.
• You can extend your reach beyond your local area. As a website is available irrespective of physical locations, you can promote your services and products to national and even international customers, increasing your potential customer base.

What other reasons can you think of? Tweet us at @BizspaceUK.