Business Software Solutions: Why Do I Need a Website

Mini-Series: Part 2 of 5

Why do I need a website? I’ve briefly discussed topics surrounding this question in previous posts I’ve written but I feel like the content is so important, redundancy is the least of my worries. This is it. The big kahuna. All the rationale I can dredge up to answer this common question will be laid out in this article. Suspenseful? Hopefully. Dramatic? Absolutely! I love answering this question and while I want to jump straight into the topic, I did want to mention a couple things before we begin.

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We are now on our second installment of our five part mini series about business software solutions; more specifically, the business software solutions that we have experience in and feel comfortable speaking about. If you’re enjoying these posts or have something to say yourself, please say so in the comments section below! We will be taking a hiatus from our blog posts once we finish up this mini series because we’re honestly too busy building cool things to keep up. While we could outsource our ideas to a freelance writer to pick up the slack for the time being, we feel that it would be disingenuous. We’re hoping to keep the hiatus short and get back to writing some cool articles but only time will tell. Now, back to the topic at hand.

Roadmap

The flow of this post will be a little different from how I’ve structured them in the past so I thought it prudent to give some context before we get too far in. I believe that there are unique reasons for different entities to have a website. The rest of the article will be split up into different entities and how they would benefit from having a website. There are also common benefits that all types of entities can benefit from and will be covered towards the end. Cool, you got that map squared away? Excellent. Strap in and let’s go for a ride.

Large/Medium Businesses

This one seems like a no brainer so let’s knock it out first. If you own, or make decisions for, a large or medium sized business and have ever thought, why do I need a website, this section is for you. You most likely already have a website but may even wonder what real benefits you get from having it. These are fair questions and many answers tend to only scratch the surface. The answers will depend on the type of business that you are and the industry that you are classified in, but there are some general truths that apply across the board.

Probably the most important reason why you need a website is the fact that you can. What I mean by that is that most businesses of this size have ample funding to be able to pull off a beautiful website outfitted with some incredible SEO strategies. The combination of a well-designed website and awesome SEO can really boost your traffic!

A close runner up is that you are satisfying a modern expectation. Websites have only been around for about 30 years now. Crazy right? But from 1991 to now, we’ve seen a linear trend of business reliance on the web. Some companies are even built around the web (*cough* us *cough*)! Within three decades, we saw companies move from physical business cards to websites. But that’s the modern expectation: a website. I guarantee that if you were to go up to any millennial and ask them whether they’d trust a large business with no website or a small business with a website, 9 out of 10 would gravitate towards the small business. That’s because it’s not just businesses that have become more reliant on the internet, but consumers as well.

Small Businesses

Our next entity on our roadmap is the small business. The “why do I need a website” question becomes very important for these types of businesses because some do not have the budget for it. Websites generally fall under the marketing budget and there are quite a few shops that don’t allocate much, to any, towards marketing. This isn’t unheard of, and some businesses do just fine without it. Though it may be fine and dandy now, life has a tendency to throw curveballs when we least expect it. That’s why it is absolutely imperative that ALL small businesses have a website. The reasons are similar to that of the large and medium sized businesses, but the stakes are much higher. While a bad quarter or year for larger businesses is a bummer, the same can be catastrophic for a small business. Websites, especially those with great SEO, allows for a higher potential of organic traffic during times that are forecasted to be rough.

It also gives your business a presence and more of an identity. Having a web presence is a necessity because of the world’s reliance on the internet. An identity is also important because chances are, your company is not a household name. It may be a fallacy, but ethos can be built upon reputation. I say it’s a fallacy because a company being reputable does not mean every one of their products or services is the best in-category. People just tend to gravitate towards comfort and familiarity. Establishing a firm identity through a website is the start to building ethos in your field.

Individuals

The last stop is the individual. This includes sole proprietors, freelancers and those who have non-business interests. So, for the third and final time, “why do I need a website”? For sole proprietors and freelancers the answer is a bit more straightforward because it aligns with the answers from both of the sections above. Again, depending on the field and type of business, the answer will vary. Having a web presence and establishing an identity are even more important for individuals because of how limited they are in the sense of time. Coming from a short freelance stint, I know how hard it is to do everything for yourself. From marketing to coding, it was a lot of hours. A website is one thing I wished I had invested in. Over time, the website has the potential to do a lot of the marketing heavy-lifting for you, freeing up your valuable time.

When it comes to hobbyists, or an individual looking to promote themselves but not necessarily profit directly from it, it becomes a little more gray. If you have the funds and you’re really passionate about what you’re doing, sure, go for it! If this is something that you really have to contemplate then I would ask yourself two questions: what is my goal and what will accomplishing this goal do for me? Ultimately, I think we all do things to be happy or happier than we currently are. If that’s the motivation, I don’t see why you shouldn’t invest the resources into being happier!

Common Benefits

Well done, you made it to through the website informational! As a victory lap, let’s go over some of the common benefits that anyone would find from having a website. So if you didn’t fall into any of the three categories above, and are still wondering, why do I need a website, then hopefully these reasons are satisfactory. First, websites are a modern form of expression. In extension, one can even be as bold as to claim that websites can be classified as a type of art. With the various types of layouts, designs, color schemes and animations, there’s limitless possibilities. And second, websites can increase profit. Even if you’re not directly looking to monetize your website, you can hold onto the domain like a stock and sell for a higher price in the future. This is referred to as domain flipping (kinda like house flipping, but with less work and capital involved).

Conclusion

Well, that’s it for this week folks! I hope you enjoyed the second installment in our five part journey through software solutions for businesses. To quickly sum up what we talked about, there’s a viable reason for any business, or anyone, to have a website. While different types of entities can benefit in different ways, there are still benefits nonetheless. Next week I’ll be getting into a topic that is quite interesting: web applications and how they are a useful piece of software for any business. I’ll also be discussing the differences between a website and a web app with the typical context and definitions. Until next week!