Why Your Business Needs A Website: The Essential Guide For 2024

In our digital-first world, your business website is the online epicenter of your brand – without one, you miss out on finding and engaging the customers that determine your growth and success.

This comprehensive guide details every reason you need a business website along with insider tips for getting starting. We‘ll cover:

1. Driving More Sales and Revenue

Capturing web traffic and search visibility
Showcasing products and services
Generating and qualifying sales leads

2. Building Customer Relationships and Loyalty

Communicating your brand story
Gathering feedback and reviews
Providing helpful content

3. Gaining Market and Competitive Insights

Website analytics for data-driven decisions
Evaluating digital campaigns and assets
Monitoring competitors

4. Achieving Essential Credibility and Trust

Proving your professional legitimacy
Public-facing contact info
Security seals like HTTPS

Plus: Key Website Must-Haves

Mobile responsiveness
Contact forms
Search engine optimization (SEO)

And: Getting Started Guide

Web builders, CMS platforms, costs
Hosting options and domains
Design, content and functionality

Let‘s explore all these website benefits – and why you can no longer afford to miss out.

1. Driving Sales and Boosting Revenue

For most businesses, the #1 goal of establishing an online presence is more sales and revenue growth.

Key stats:

81% of shoppers conduct online research before major purchases [1]
78% made a purchase from the first brand they searched for [2]
64% are more likely to purchase from businesses with websites [3]

Without search visibility and a website to convert research to sales, you miss out on nearly all these potential customers and purchases. Online visibility presents exponentially more traffic and sales opportunities.

Real-world results:

Small businesses with websites can earn over 2.5x more annual revenue on average than those without:

Average yearly revenue of small businesses with and without websites [4]

After implementing a new website showcase, CompuTech Inc increased sales by 95% year-over-year [5]. Site visitors connect with brands more quickly and easily via 24/7 self-service.

Websites work as virtual storefronts, product catalogs, and sales representatives – combining worldwide visibility and discoverability with conversion-focused calls-to-action. Savvy businesses in 2024 view their website as the #1 sales and marketing asset.

Let‘s explore two core sales drivers:

Capturing Relevant Traffic and Search Visibility

70% of customers default to Google search when researching unknown brands and products [6]. Where does your Google search visibility currently stand?

Without website content and pages optimized for keywords customers are searching, you remain invisible losing out on 70% of search-driven purchasers. Targeted content creation and search engine optimization establishes digital shelving space where buyers are actively looking.

Most website platforms make search optimization easy. For example, Wix ADI‘s AI-driven sites capture higher search visibility and traffic within months of launching [7]:

175% increase in organic search traffic in 5 months after launching Wix ADI website [7]

Showcasing Products and Services – 24/7 Accessibility

Your website real estate allows customers to explore and evaluate your offerings anytime. Display product catalogs, service details and past work all in one place – instead of limiting discovery to word-of-mouth, limited brick-and-mortar visibility or occasional sales outreach alone.

In an analysis across 700 small businesses in a variety of sectors, those with product or service showcase websites saw 2x more growth over 2 years compared to industry averages [8]. Harness your website to tangibly demonstrate who you are, what you do and the value you offer.

Generating and Qualifying Leads into Sales

Your website functions as the first touchpoint and qualifier for customer leads – allowing passive attraction from search in addition proactive promotional outreach.

With lead generation features like:

Contact/Request Quote forms
Email sign-up offers
Live chat

You can capture and vet promising new business opportunities around the clock. Over 2 in 3 companies say website lead capture to sales enables the fastest and most pipeline growth [9].

Don‘t just take our word for the power of websites to drive sales – the real-world proof lies with small businesses earning 6 figures in additional annual revenue solely by embracing simple, strategic websites.

Claim your expansion opportunity today.

2. Building Customer Relationships and Loyalty

Beyond immediate sales numbers, websites facilitate ongoing customer relationship-building that earns loyalty and long-term revenue.

With personalization capabilities, constant content updates and audience analytics, websites provide direct 1-to-1 channels tailored to exactly what your buyers, clients and fans respond to.

Stay top of mind while showcasing the values, expertise and service offerings your ideal customers care about above all else. Sites empower relationship marketing at scale – crucial for small businesses seeking to nurture repeat purchasers.

Share Your Unique Brand Story

Your About page, biz bios, service guides, blog and press coverage presents valuable insights into the real people, passions and purpose behind your brand. Share these uniquely human elements that today‘s buyers connect with.

Transactional shoppers become loyal brand advocates when they resonate with the story of who you are and why you started your company.

Earn Reviews and Testimonials

Positive reviews are make-or-break for which brands customers trust. Yet under 10% proactively collect and publish reviews on their own websites [10]. Don‘t leave this crucial trust signal to third-party platforms alone.

Publish raving client testimonials directly on your website to show new visitors consistent quality and satisfaction. Curate and highlight your most impressive verified reviews.

Deliver Valuable Content

Building relationships means providing ongoing helpful, relevant content to engage both existing loyalists and capture new visitors from search.

Blog articles, how-to guides, email newsletters and videos that solve problems or share insider tips are all excellent vehicles. 81% of loyal customers say access to unique content keeps them coming back [11].

From SEO and lead gen to building evangelists – website content pays dividends across all phases of the customer lifecycle. Prioritize publishing 1-3X per week.

Now more than ever, genuine emotional connections beyond one-off transactions determine a brand‘s success. Website-driven relationship marketing brings huge benefits on relatively small time investments for SMBs.

3. Competitive and Market Intelligence

Beyond external-facing elements, your website provides perhaps the most cost-efficient business intelligence available.

Conversion tracking, behavior analytics, split testing – all provide real data on who engages you, how, why and where things succeed or fail. Plus visibility into competitors rarely accessible otherwise.

Actionable Website Analytics and Reports

All popular site builders (Wix, Weebly, Squarespace) include integrated analytics dashboards covering:

Traffic volume
Visitor demographics
Landing/exit pages
Content/page popularity
Campaign and channel performance: PPC, email, social media, SEO
Sales and conversions
Form interactions and lead activity

Review reports frequently. See exactly which pages, offers and assets resonate and where consumers lose interest. Discover which segments to further target and what drives actions for proper resource allocation.

Data-driven decisions raise SMB conversion rates by 2x on average [12].

Evaluate Experiments and Improvements

Your website allows easy A/B and multivariate testing of virtually any component to drive continual optimization:

Headlines and call-to-action copy
Page layouts and placement
Visual assets and videos
Content/product groupings
Email/ad design
Pricing and offers

Evaluate performance data, double down on what converts and re-work lacking areas – with minimal risk thanks to isolated experiments.

Ongoing testing generates 13% higher conversion rates over time per Oracle research [13]. Discover micro-opportunities through your own controlled experiments vs guesswork.

Monitor Competitor Activity

Your website provides visibility into competitor online traction and strategies most SMBs are oblivious to otherwise, including:

New product announcements and features
Special promotions and offers
Partnership marketing activities
SEO and content shifts
Website design changes
Customer engagement levels

Tune into competitor websites as early warning systems to either counteract or emulate based on real effectiveness data. This level of competitive intelligence is only possible through own website metrics.

4. Achieving Credibility, Trust and Confidence

In 2024, business website ownership brings an expectation of stability, professionalism and trustworthiness. Without one, you risk perception issues and doubts from today‘s online-first consumers.

Positive trust signals like promiment contact info, customer reviews, chamber membership badges and security seals have significant influence where businesses otherwise appear unknown.

Prove Legitimacy and Capability

At minimum, every business website should showcase:

Physical address or contact info
Years in business
Key personnel bios and headshots
Client logos and testimonials

These website elements quickly communicate legitimacy for any small, local or niche business to prospects. Avoid seeming ambiguous, outdated or evoke doubt from visitors and lost opportunities.

Install Trust Seals and Signals

SSL certificate (padlock icon)
BBB trust badges
Security scans
Chamber/association designations
Customer review excerpts
Media logos running PR coverage

Each trust indicator enhances credibility in search of your services, products and advice. Don‘t allow website absence to hamper first impressions.

Own Your Online Reputation

Your website facilitates managing and improving online reputation and sentiment. Address negative reviews head-on with website and social media responses. Over 60% of consumers say such responses increase trust in that company [14].

Owning your space allows showcasing achievements, media praise and client satisfaction front-and-center instead of relying on third-party visibility.

Website Setup 101: Costs, Speed and Simplicity

If historical barriers like high website costs, complexity or long setup times have held your business back, fantastic news:

Today‘s solutions make launching informational websites easier and more affordable than ever, including:

All-in-one site builders: Squarespace, Wix, Weebly
Ecommerce builders: Shopify, BigCommerce
Open source content management: WordPress, Drupal
Turnkey managed web services: GoDaddy Website Builder

Cost range:

Basic 5-10 page informational sites: $8-20 monthly
Robust 30+ page sites with advanced features: $25-40 monthly
Online stores: $30-100+ monthly based on sales tiers

All include responsive templates, hosting, maintenance and support.

Expect strong ROIs even on lowest-priced starter websites simply from new customer acquisition and organic traffic growth over 6-12 months [15].

Speed to launch:

Squarespace, Wix sites ready in under 1 hour
MVP versions within 1 week turnaround across any platform
Optimized sites in 1-2 months

Ease of use:

Drag-and-drop page builders, 1000s of templates and intuitive editors mean no advanced web skills necessary for most SMB use cases including:

Page content updates
Image/video uploads
Lead capture forms
Layout changes
Styling and branding
Contact and sales funnels
Campaign setup and reporting

Don‘t let outdated preconceptions limit your potential. Launch an MVP website this month utilizing turnkey solutions anyone on your team can maintain ongoing afterward!

Turn Website Traffic into Customers

Congratulations on committing to showcase your business online for newfound growth and competitive resilience!

As next steps:

1. Start Building Your Website

Follow our guide to launch your mini-site or full online hub using Squarespace, Wix or alternativeSimplify website creation using DIY website builders with 1000s of ready-made responsive templates. Most include hosting, updates and 24/7 support.

2. Drive Visitors to Site

Execute both free organic strategies and affordable paid advertising:

Search engine optimization
Content marketing
Social media pages
Google/Facebook ads
Retargeting campaigns
PR outreach

3. Convert Visitors into Leads & Customers

Compelling calls-to-action
Lead capture forms
Chatbots
Retargeting ads
Email sequences
Personalized recommendations

Still On the Fence?

81% Won‘t Consider Brands Without Websites
210M Global Website Users Added Last Year [16]
53% Increase in Site Traffic Drives 10x More Business Growth [17]

Over 4 billion internet users are waiting to discover you today! [18]

Sources:

[1] IZEA State of the Creator Economy Report
[2] Blue Corona
[3] Venture Harbour
[4] Venture Harbour
[5] Website Builder Expert
[6] Blue Corona
[7] Wix
[8] Placester
[9] DemandGen
[10] BrightLocal
[11] RFM Analysis
[12] Aberdeen Group
[13] Oracle Maxymiser
[14] Fan & Fuel
[15] Website Builder Expert
[16] DataReportal
[17] HubSpot
[18] DataReportal