Below we will answer this question and the following:
- What is the value of a small business website?
- What needs to be on the website?
- What questions do customers want answered on my website?
- What website fixes do you do and what are the most common fixes?
- How does my website help my business?
- What are the aspects of a strong business website?
- BONUS: Your website is your first employee.
- BONUS: Don’t give your customers a wedgie!
A Website Should be One of the First Steps in your Business
In my mind (and maybe I’m biased) when I think about starting a business, my first steps are:
1. Establish the business (sole proprietor, LLC, etc.)
2. Open a business bank account
3. Get a website up.
At that point you are official: you have an EIN, you can take payments, and you have a homebase for your business.
The Value of Having a Website Early in your Business
A website is important to have early because if you pitch to someone and they’re interested, they’ll want to:
- Learn more about you
- Learn more about your product/service
- See your portfolio
- Read testimonials
- Assess your credibility
- See what makes you different from the competition.
A strong website should tell them all of those things (content), be easy to use (user experience) and look great (design).
Your Website is the Foundation of your Sales and Marketing
A website is the first step in your digital presence and digital marketing journey. A strong website is imperative as a foundation for your in-person and digital marketing and sales funnel. If you have a good pitch or good marketing, but if your website is nonfunctional, ugly, or it doesn’t answer the lead’s questions they need answered, then the sale stops there.
Sales and Marketing Should be Effortless, Like a Water Slide
The sales and marketing funnel needs to be effortless and smooth like a water slide, and a bad website is like hitting a dry spot on the slide. They won’t try that slide again.
What Fixes are Needed on a Website?
The fixes I see a lot of need for are usually obvious function or design issues, like a button doesn’t work, text or graphics are noticeably out of place, etc. Beyond that we can take a strategic look at if the website does what you need it to.
Your Website is your First Employee
Your website is really your first employee. Remember that. Business owners “hire” websites to do many different things: provide customer support, generate leads, make sales, answer questions, direct customers to a brick and mortar, lead customers further down the funnel by getting them to sign up for a free trial or newsletter, etc.
