A website is one of the most important marketing tools you must have. The primary reason is that, having a website allows you to market your business online. Having a website provides you visibility, credibility, and marketability.
Visibility – Having a website allows potential customers/clients to find you without seeing your physical location. And, they are able to learn about you and your services 24/7/365.
Credibility – Today, websites are a standard for businesses to have. First impressions are important. In part, what makes a website credibility is how it looks. Having a nice, professional, and modern appearing website instantly gives confidence in you, your product and your service. Next, if the content on your website informs, educates, and provides answers to questions individuals are searching for, this will also provide confidence. Then you can display or connect people to testimonials and reviews of your products and services. And you can display your credentials and accolades.
Marketability – A website allows you to market your products and services. It stands as a central location and point of reference that allows you to take measures to acquire new customers/clients.
A good website must be:
Accessible – Your website needs to be easy to access. Accessible websites are readable and usable for anyone regardless of the device they are using, the size of their device or the browser they are using. You will always need to take steps to accommodate persons with disabilities (blind, hearing impaired, etc.). And, depending on your clientele, you may even want to provide language accessibility.
Searchable – Your website needs to be easy find and contain great content. Being searchable has to do with the content on your website and the structure of your website. The content on your website must be up to date, relevant to your area of expertise, and high quality.
Manageable – Your website needs to be easy to manage.You will want your website built on a content management system (CMS) so that you don’t need to know how to code in order to make changes to it. This comes in handy as you will need to regularly update your website so that your content is always fresh.
Flexible – Your website needs to be flexible. Flexibility is in reference to the ability for a website to grow with you and your business. You will also want a website that allows you to easily add new functionality.
