In today’s digital society, there’s no denying that you can’t successfully market your business without an online presence. However, with the diverse range of tools and platforms now available at your fingertips, it’s tough to figure out which are the best to use for your business (By the way, we can help with that!).
Many of these tools and platforms are available for low-to-no cost. Social media, for example, allows your business to join the conversation and connect with your target audience(s) in a personal and meaningful way for little to no monetary investment except your time and effort. So when you’ve got a low-to-no marketing budget, the benefits of dropping several thousand dollars on a custom website are not readily obvious. But if you choose to opt out of the business website, you’re missing out on arguably the most component of your digital marketing strategy. Here’s why the business website is important to for your brand and reaching your target audience(s).
To position your brand.
Your business website gives you total control over how you position your brand and the products and services you have to offer. You can create a seamless, clear and cohesive brand experience for your existing and target customers. You also have total control over the look, feel, presentation and technology that’s implemented on your owned media.
To drown out the background noise.
You don’t have to contend with several other competitors in the same feed for attention from your visitors on your own business website. Advertise only your own products and services on your owned media or let others advertise on your website for a fee – the choice is yours.
Your visitors have probably come to your website because they want to be there. They have voluntarily chosen to visit your website for -insert reason here- and you have their relatively undivided attention.
To curate content.
The benefits of having your own information hub to publish your content are endless. Your original content can position your brand as a subject matter expert in your industry. Further, you can build reputation and awareness for your brand and as an influencer in your industry. According to Pete Blackshaw, Global Head of Digital and Social Media for Nestle, “A great website also syndicates, re-circulates and curates social content from the brand stands.” Your curated content will improve your website search engine results (SERPS) pages and garner more traffic toward your website.
To earn favor with search engines.
Speaking of which, “Search engines remain the most important product research tools (particularly for the oldest consumers) but 3 in 10 are turning to social networks for brand research.” (Global Web index). Your website content will outlive your social content. This content can improve your search rank on relevant industry topics and keywords. The more relevant and meaningful content you have indexed with search engines, the more your content can continue to garner traffic toward your website on a long-term and ongoing basis. “Brand websites remain the most important brand-consumer touchpoint – 4 in 10 visit one each month.” (Global Web Index)
To establish your direct information hub and your back-up plan.
The website is a reliable information hub about your brand, products and services. It can be a reliable customer support platform consumers trust. If a customer is having trouble figuring out how to use a product or service they have recently purchased from your business, would you rather they retrieve the information from you, or another source? Your customer might need a phone number, a FAQ page or warranty information. Perhaps they are trying to find your walk-in location, or find out which of your business locations is closest to them. It’s key to make it easy for them to find you and all of the information they need from you.
Your website should be part of your crisis management plan. It doesn’t matter what size your business is or what type of industry you’re in, you’re vulnerable to some type of crisis. It’s wise to investigate what kind of crisis risks you might face ahead of time so that you can prepare a crisis management plan for the greatest or most common possible crises. Your website is an essential part of that plan because it’s going to be the reliable information hub where audiences seek out official announcements or press releases directly from you.
Conclusively, the business website as owned media should represent the core of your digital marketing strategy and efforts, with the supporting tools and platforms serving as extensions of your business website.
UpDog offers custom website solutions that will help make you Top Dog in your industry. Give us a call today! 1.800.393.6802 / 1.909.498.4416 or request your FREE Consultation!
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