Why websites will be even more essential for businesses in 2019

Author: Gautam Mane

Did you know that many businesses, especially small and medium, do not still own a proper website?

Surprising isn’t it?

In an age where everything is going digital and almost everybody is moving towards having a digital identity it can be blasphemous to not have a digital presence via a website. Having a website is like having a permanent ‘’office’’ in the digital realm and with the kind of competitive environment prevailing around, here are a few big reasons why your business will need a website in 2019 –

Your Digital Address

It goes without saying that your website is your best digital address, period. Your website is the best way for you to communicate, create awareness about, exhibit and sell your brand. Many people find it very convenient to actually visit your website, gather all the required details and see what you can offer them. Studies have shown that 60% of customers do expect companies to have some or the other form of digital presence and more than 30% prefer a website for information on products.

Cost-effective Branding Solution

Often as business owners you tend to spend huge amounts of money on brand and product promotion activities. Add to this, the advertising and marketing costs – and you are already sitting on considerable costs. Creating a decent website is perhaps the best solution for all your marketing needs. Not only does it function as a platform to promote, market and display your products but it also helps communicate with your customers and provide the necessary information. Undoubtedly, your website is your long-standing cost-effective branding solution.

Customer Engagement

On the digital front, there is no greater channel to connect and engage with your customers than through your website. The website acts as a platform providing multiple resources for visitors to take advantage of and eventually convert them into customers. Customers are constantly and consistently engaged via content on the website which results in greater brand recall and stronger customer relationship. Another great advantage of a website is that it can help answer customer queries through email or chat options and provide loads of information on product, industry and markets via the blogs.

As competition gets tighter and businesses put extra efforts to engage customers, a company would find itself losing out in the digital marketing race if it does not possess a specific and customized website.

Drives Traffic

Having a website is a sure shot way to drive traffic and convert prospects into customers. A study says that 81% of people conduct online research before making a purchase decision. With Google taking over as the king of search engines, a very good way people can find out about your products and or services is by ranking high on the Google search pages. An optimized website with refreshing content will make it easier for your company to be found and ranked top amongst thousands of others who are looking for customers.

Think about this, you may print and distribute a million fliers on your brand and it is likely that most of these fliers will find their way to a dustbin. But if you can create a proper and up-to-date website,it will act as your platform to showcase all you have got and help customers find you in this vast digital space.

As a parting note, here is something you might want to keep in mind – have a website that is decent enough but more importantly, one that is absolutely user-friendly. Not having a user-friendly website will not only make it tough for users to know about brand and communicate with you but will also ensure that your competition scores over you even before you have begun the race.