Why websites matter

With social media platforms making it easy to post, share content, and promote your business to followers and non-followers the need for a website can seem less than ever before. After all, websites tend to be static storefronts just waiting for shoppers and social media is an energy filled marketplace. So why does having website matter when you can connect more quickly with followers, find new audiences, and sell directly on social media platforms…. simple…. you don’t own any social media space or follower. You are only renting. What would happen if that platform shut down— you can’t take your followers. What happens if you get hacked— you can’t connect to your followers. You want to own access to your audience and control your main sales site.

Your website is yours and it gives you great authority and control on how your message your business, service, and products. I have spoken to a number of small businesses and they will tell you that don’t use their website, their website is outdated, or they don’t even have one. I think they are missing out on a massive opportunity.

Imagine you are looking for a service in your area many what do you do? Many still go to good ole Google and do a search. Often they don't know the response they are looking for — rather they are searching using in webspeak — keywords. And there, among many things, is the brilliance of not only a website but an optimized website.

Admittedly, setting up a website is simple… although setting up an optimized website takes some time. The result is a marketing arm that you control.

Important parts of your website

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Keywords and descriptions - Helps you get found by search engines

Messaging- Clearly shares your value

Lead Generator- Helps you collect lead emails to create a valuable email list

Products- Sales and Money in your account

Visuals- Product pages, about you pages, sales pages all need photos to help the audience trust and know your brand.

I realized recently that even living in a small town it is easy to not know what service and products I have right around the corner. It isn’t hard to imagine how easy it is to need something so you decided to do a search for something on line, end up hiring someone not local because they were the closest or the best you could find… only to realize a business or person very local to you offers that same service. It happens all too often.

It happens when businesses don't put their products and services on a website because they believe the community around them knows their offerings. The truth is often they don’t. Even when businesses post on social media they are up against an algorithm which promotes “social” behaviors such as liking, comments, and sharing. Their post many be only seen by a small percentage of their “following” and may come and go pretty quickly. A website - yes static in many ways- also has a longer shelf life. The beauty of social media is that it feeds us information based on our previous searches…. but try to go back and find that product you saw and don’t remember the name. Web searches feed you information that you search — meaning you are more intentional, because typically they are looking for a way to solve an issue or answer a question.

Websites are important to your business. They are a part of the greater marketing picture. They work with your in person, print, and social media marketing. They are your home base and the place to direct all of your other marketing efforts to. At the end of the day you want traffic to your website because you want to capture leads so you can market back to an interested audience.

How to start a website

Starting a website is like I said above is pretty easy. There are many website providers that make it super simple to create your little online space. I would say it is useful to decide what your site needs to do for you. Do you need an e-commerce site so you can sell product so line and ship? Do you need a way to sell services and send invoices? Do you need just need a website with blog so you can share tutorials or information? Are you planning on using your site to create classes and need a way to offer a subscription? Different website providers offer different benefits.

Most websites also offer content on how to optimize the SEO for your site. Read it or hire someone to help you. You want to create a site that can be found.

Squarespace- Great for online ecommerce, course, blog writers, and subscriptions.

Wordpress- Offers lot of templates and customization.

Wix- works with Square if you need a point of sale in person and ecommerce

Show it- Beautiful site used by lots of creative and photographers. Lots of amazing templates. I don’t believe it has its one commerce platform.

Message First

I used to think you wanted a pretty website so people would be attracted to my business. How wrong was I. What you want is a findable website first, a website with a great message secondly, and a pretty website thirdly.

When we work with small brands the I first like to talk about what is their primary message they want their audience to know or feel. Messaging always comes before pictures. It is so easy to put the cart before the horse. It is fun to make our websites pretty, but the only way to create the most effective photos is to know how you position your brand, product, staff etc to your audience. Once we know that then we can create the energy, the feeling, and the vibe that fits your brand.

If you are excited to grow your brand and need to create content for your website I would love to chat.