If you’re a brick and mortar business owner or manager, you might not think that you need a website. However, in these days of internet connectivity, not having a website might actually make it harder for people to find your business. And even if you’re not aware of it, that might be hurting your business by limiting the number of new clients. If you don’t know anything about web design, don’t panic! You can get a professional SEO company to create a website and internet presence for you with all the bells and whistles that you don’t know you need but that your business can’t do without.
Yes, your business needs a web presence
The yellow pages are now online. In homes and even offices, you don’t see those big bulky phone books in their time-honored roles as doorstops or side tables any more. And the jokes and commercials about phone books are becoming kind of scarce, as are the books themselves.
That’s because it’s much easier and more efficient to access that information online. Why bother with bulky, unwieldy phone books which are only updated at long intervals, when you can find that information through a quick online search? An online search will give not just the name and location of a business but also their website, which will have information on goods and services, proving, hours, online contact forms and much more.
Leaving web design to the professionals
Now that you’re convinced of the necessity of a web presence for your business, what’s the next step? Do you or your faithful staff need to take a crash course in web design? Not necessarily, because internet marketing is a highly complex endeavor that is best left to a web design company that understands internet marketing.
That’s because in the world of internet searches, it’s crucial to be found. When potential customers do an online search for your products or services, they see a listing of businesses that offer these. Since most people have limited time and very short attention spans, they will only pay attention to the first few businesses listed in the search. Most people will not look beyond the first page of results.
This means that for potential customers to find you through an online search, you need too rank at or near the top of the search. It’s not as simple as it sounds, because Google and other search engines use arcane formula to rank websites in online searches. Google changes its search algorithms around five or six hundred times each year. It takes a thorough knowledge of SEO strategy and tactics to ensure that your website ranks at or near the top.
But is your site optimized for mobile?
It’s not enough to have the right SEO tactics that place your business at the top of the search. Your site also needs to be optimized for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
Nowadays it’s impossible not to notice that everyone seems to have their noses buried in a mobile device of some kind most of the time. People don’t just live online, they access the internet on their mobile devices. That’s why it’s also a good idea to have your web design company optimize your website for mobile.
This means that the site should load quickly and cleanly, without forcing the internet user to scroll up, down or sideways. There nothing as cumbersome as waiting for a slow-loading website, and about 40% of internet users will abandon a site that takes more than three seconds to load.
The appearance of your website is the first contact that prospective customers have with your business and shapes their opinion. Almost half or 46% of people surveyed said that web design helps them determine the credibility of the company.
Professional web design gives you a site that is optimized for searches and mobile devices. That’s an edge your business needs.
