If you own an offline business which happens to be a success, you haven’t probably thought about setting up a website. Perhaps, who would, given that you are already making a fortune?

If you happen to be one of these business owners who are against setting up a website, I will cut things short for you – you should have one.

A well-designed, professional website will help you bait leads, increase sales and get more customers to your offline business.

Here’s a list of everything you should know about setting up a website, and why you should set one in the first place.

Consumer behavior is continuously changing

When was the last time you ordered from Amazon? Probably last week, or maybe today. Right? When did you first add an item to your online cart? 5 years ago, give or take. See!

The consumer behavior is changing over time and as a business, it is your responsibility to adapt to modern technologies. Consumers belong where the convenience lies. You cannot be definite that because an offline business is working fine now, it would work fine 5 years from now.

So, you must establish a website to quickly change your delivery model just in case the circumstances demand that. And what better example can I present than the coronavirus outbreak.

Put simply, you need a website because that’s where you will find consumers in the next 5 years.

If you don’t believe me yet, here’s the stat –

The number of consumers who go online to search for local businesses has spiked to 97% in three years.

If you need to be discovered online, you need a website. It is as simple as it can get.

You need a website regardless of the industry you are in

Let’s get things straight and pretty quick. In 2020, you need a website, and you need it irrespective of your business sphere. You should have started your website the day you started the business, but it isn’t too late.

A website can help you establish your legitimacy as an organization. This is important. If you haven’t set up a website, it is about time you did it. I would suggest that you also get business email hosting for that ‘added factor of trust’ during email communications.

Debunking objections that businesses would do fine without a website

Will your business do fine without a website? Yes, it will, but not in the long run so as to speak.

Before I go on a spree of debunking myths, I think it is imperative that I first present you with some statistics – just so that you know I have done my homework.

Deloitte, last year, conducted research wherein it identified how online presence affects business revenues. The findings were, I would say, intriguing.

The research concluded that businesses that had a website –

Earned twice as much as other offline businesses

Had ballooning revenue growth

Were more likely to create jobs

Had better average employment growth speed

The stats are not confined to any industry in particular. They have been presented as clearly as I could, without any prejudice.

I do not see why you’d still remain unconvinced of the fact that you need a website. But, if you are that immovable, here are six inevitable reasons that corroborate my findings –

1:  30% Customers won’t consider a business “business” if it does not have a website

Your website is the number one online marketing tool because we are living in a digital age. Your grandfather could have done well without a website but you are a 21st-century guy, thriving in the world of binary digits.

Americans typically spend anywhere between 20 to 40 hours a week online and are active all day on their mobile phones. So, there isn’t a chance that they won’t look online before signing a deal with any business. Without a website, I doubt if they’d consider you a legitimate business. I cannot be certain if they’d even consider you “business”, let alone being legitimate or illegitimate.

2: Consumers search for you online

More than 90% of consumers first go online and then decide if they should make a deal with you or not. Websites alone won’t get you discovered, you need a PROFESSIONAL website and an equally professional SEO service.

One of the perks of creating a website for startups is because you’d be standing next to the consumers. Companies don’t invest in sites blindly, they have a pretty good reason and an even clearer picture behind the investment. Corporates know their websites are the seal of trust.

3.5 billion Searches are made on Google every day, believe it or not. It is very likely that someone in your area is searching for products you deal in – if only you had a website.

3: Consumers deal with Businesses that have a website

According to a report titled “The Digital Consumer” study, more than 60% consumers deal online with businesses. That leaves you the remaining 40%. Think it this way – if you are doing wonders without a website, you’d fire it up with a website.

Moreover, 60% is a pretty enormous portion of consumers to be missed out on. Also, take into account the 90% consumers who search online before buying. Now do the math.

It won’t be wrong if I said that you have been scavenging when an entire feast was laid ready on the table.

4: Commercial transactions are almost always digital

Unless you are planning to evade taxes, most transactions that you do must be digital.

I have been hearing a lot from manufacturing industries. Just last week, I and a couple of corporate acquaintances decided to catch up online. We had the same old musings about how convenient digital payments are.

To give you the number, 75% of buyers (B2B) say that e-payments are five times more impactful. If your business allows digital payments, consumers are more likely to make a deal.

Rethink, how many customers have walked out of that door because they had no cash and you wouldn’t accept e-payments. Probably a lot, I guess. Think of it once, weren’t those customers enough valuable that you turned them out for the sake of a website.

5: People make a judgement based on your website’s aesthetics

You can tell a gentleman by his shoes, and business by its website.

The more aesthetically pleasing your website is, the more people will trust you. If you don’t have a website, people won’t trust you at all – as simple as that.

Even if the consumer decides to visit your site, you have as little as 10 seconds to impress him. That is a very small time. You’ve put so much time in setting up a business, drained years of earnings and a random stranger judged your credibility in 10 seconds. But, consumers are the ones playing the cards, not you, so you’ve to play by their rules anyway.

I haven’t heard anything more morbid than businesses saying they aren’t planning to establish a website at any moment.

6: Answer only what is required

If you have a “products” page, you would want to highlight why your product is the best as concisely as possible. Note, just like you, the consumer also has a limited amount of time and hence demand immediate gratification.

So within seconds, your website must be able to convey the following –

Your niche

How to get in touch with you

Why you are better than any other business

Brief Upshot

We live in an age where people seek answers and they want to get answered quickly. My point is, as a consumer I would not want to waste my time visiting an offline store. I’d rather browse for products online and visit stores based on my liking, and that is what most people are doing right now. You have to admit, a business website is worth all the money.