Three BIG Reasons Small Businesses Need a Professional Website

Big Reason #1: Credibility and Trust

In an era where information is at our fingertips, the first place potential customers go to learn about a business is online. According to BrightLocal's 2023 Local Consumer Review Survey, 93% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses, with 34% searching every day (Tidio)​. 93 percent! That's a lot of potential clients to miss a shot at landing because you chose to skip a website. Obviously, this statistic underscores the importance of having a strong online presence, but it's more than just the ability to be found in search results.

In addition to serving as the digital face of your business, a smartly designed website also builds credibility and trust with potential customers. Without a website, your business might be perceived as less credible or even nonexistent. With a professional website, you can tell the story of who you are, what you have to offer, and why clients should choose you. To achieve this, a professional website should include the following (more on this in another blog; stay tuned):

1. A welcoming homepage with an overview of services and clear value proposition.
2. An about us page with information about your company's mission and values.
3. Clear and detailed service and product pages.
4. An informative contact page with a contact form, email, phone number, and physical address.
5. Client testimonials and reviews providing social proof of your expertise.
6. Blog or news section with regularly updated content related to your industry (great for SEO, too!)
7. Prominent Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons on every page to facilitate conversion.
8. An SSL Certificate to protect user data and build credibility.
   

And of course, the website must be fully optimized based on local SEO market research and be mobile-responsive with design that adapts to different devices. Having all of these elements in your professional website communicates to consumers why they can and should rely on you for the services and products they are searching for. You ARE credible and trustworthy, so make sure your website shows it!

Big Reason #2: Visibility and Reach

Having a website improves your business’s visibility and accessibility, but as we saw above, not all websites are created equal. Now, this is where SEO comes in. A professional website designed with expert SEO (search engine optimization) is necessary for actually getting your website seen. To understand why, let's start with another statistic.

Big Reason #3: Lead Generation and Revenue Growth

That brings us to the final big reason: lead generation and revenue growth. The money, honey. One of the most compelling reasons to invest in a professional, fully optimized website with expert SEO is its potential to generate leads and increase business profit. Remember, a primary goal of an SEO strategy is to improve your ranking on the SERPs. Appearing higher in search engine results doesn't just mean there's more eyes on your businesses; it means there are way more searchers actually clicking on your site and therefore converting into paying clients. Let's look at real numbers:

Here's an (illustrative) example. Let's say HVAC companies in Smiletown, USA, are competing for leads from the search query "HVAC installation in Smiletown USA", which has 400 monthly searches.

An HVAC company that invests in expert SEO and appears in the second result spot for "HVAC installation in Smiletown USA" will receive approximately 15.7% of clicks, which equates to 62.8 leads. Now, let's be conservative and say this company can close 25% of their leads, which brings us to 12.56 new clients. (Still with me? Almost there.)