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Need a plumber? Looking for a new restaurant in your area? What about shopping for the best price on a new TV? Chances are you’re turning to the web to find what you need. And so will your potential customers when they’re seeking your product or service.
As Bill Gates once said: "If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business."
During the lean start-up stage, you might delay building a website for your business because you don’t have the tech know-how or you’re worried about the cost. There’s a solution to both of these, but first, here are just five reasons why you should get that site up and running ASAP.
- A good website gives customers peace of mind that your business is legitimate, which is especially helpful for a new business without much of a track record.
- It’s a sales tool – customers can find you (make sure your contact details are easy to spot on your website) and you can market your product or service directly to them.
- It can save you and your customers time by housing information about your business, such as locations, operating hours and a product portfolio – all things they might have had to call you to find out.
- You can share testimonials from happy customers to help you sell to new ones.
- You can widen your customer base to a national or even international market – 24/7.
Three steps to your website
Step 1: Domain name
This is basically what follows "www." in your URL, which is your website’s address (e.g. www.yourbusinesname.co.za). If you haven’t already registered your business name with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), consider registering a domain name at the same time. Your domain name usually matches the name of your company, but if it already belongs to someone else, you will have to think about an alternative. Keep it simple, avoid numbers and symbols, and no weird spelling.
To find out if the domain name you have in mind is available, search the ZA Central Registry.
Step 2: Choose a host
All the content on your website needs to be stored (or "hosted") somewhere – that’s where a hosting company comes in. If you think of your website as a house, the website host is the land where your house is located, and the URL is your address. There are many local host options to choose from and most offer a wide range of options to suit your needs and budget. Make sure you pick a host that offers a secure infrastructure (safe from hackers), strong customer support (preferably 24/7) and add-ons that suit your business (e.g. email accounts, domain registration or even web-building tools).
Step 3: Build your site
If you need something simple and affordable, you could attempt the DIY route and use an online website builder (e.g. Wix, GoDaddy, WordPress, Yola, etc) that offers templates you can adapt to your website. You can even set up an eCommerce site with a few clicks through the likes of Shopify.
Think about why someone would visit your website and what they would need to know if doing business with you – put that information on your site and make it easy to find. Every business website is different, but the basics you should cover are:
- About your business
- Product/services offered
- Contact details
If all of this sounds overwhelming, you can outsource all three steps above to a company that specialises in websites for small businesses. It might be the more costly route but will save you hours of trying to learn web design principles and fixing glitches along the way. A bad website will put a potential customer off within a few seconds (three seconds, to be exact, is what research tells us).
Can social media replace your website?
The answer is: maybe. It depends on your target market (are you selling to social media-savvy millennials?), the amount of time you are willing to spend updating and monitoring your accounts and the type of content you are intending to share with your existing and future customers.
Social media can be a cost-effective way to give your business a presence online, but you will need to build your following, post regularly and monitor all engagement you receive (the good and the bad).
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