Why Your Company Needs a Website

No matter what the size, having a business website is essential for your company.

Ultimately, this is your opportunity to reach out to more potential customers across the world, giving you a wider reach than you’ve ever had before.

Moreover, you can easily engage with your current clients and display new products, services or news about your company.

Did you know that in the UK, just over 83% of businesses had a website in 2019 before the Coronavirus pandemic, according to recent statistics.

This also means that 17% of companies in the UK do not have a website.

If this includes you, you are missing out on the chance to grow your business further and use all the potential that a website allows.

5 Top Website Statistics in 2021

Perhaps you have not had time to focus on a company website yet, or maybe you don’t think you need one. Do you think it could be too time consuming or expensive?

It’s certainly true that if you do choose to have company website, you will need to work hard at making it stand out among all the others.

However, most of the work comes in the initial build of the website, and you can pay for a professional team of experts to do this for you.

By choosing this route, you are still involved and in control of how you want the website to look overall and how it reflects the brand of your business.

Here are 5 website statistics that may convince you that your company needs a website, particularly a mobile responsive website.

1. In 1995, less than 1% of the world’s population had an internet connection. As of January 2021, it’s 59.5% of the population.
2. google.com is the most popular website on the internet. It averages 40,000 searches every second.
3. As of 2019, online sales are higher than traditional retail sales.
4. The total number of websites on the internet as of January 2021 is 1.83 billion.
5. More people access the internet on a mobile device than a desktop computer. In 2020, the mobile internet usage was 53.3%

What You Need for a Website

If you don’t know where to start with a company website, then there are a few things you will need to begin.

Firstly, what is your business about? Do you sell products or services? Is it purely for information to highlight certain aspects of your business.

This will inform what style of website or template you need such as an ecommerce website or a portfolio website. For example, if you sell products, you want a website that displays them with high quality photography.

Essentially, your website is your online shop window. Which means you will also need plenty of high quality photographs and images.

As well as the functionality for an online shopping cart which is easy to find and even easier to buy your products through.

Or perhaps you want a portfolio website to display your work to people to attract new clients. Therefore you want a professional website that shows your work in the very best light.

Furthermore, you will need excellent content.

From useful product descriptions to a mission or purpose statement about the business, as well as a price list, contact page or short biography about yourself or the story behind the company.

These are the very basics you will need in terms of content to start with.

Bear in mind that your website needs to look great, but it also needs to be really easy to use.

That’s where the expertise of a website UX designer, otherwise known as a user experience designer or developer, can be extremely helpful.

Website Design Company v Build Your Own

Of course, you can build a website yourself if you have some technical knowledge and a lot of patience.

However, did you know that almost 40% of people will stop engaging with a website if it has an unappealing design?

Moreover, there are professional website designers who make it their career to create beautiful websites which are also engaging and appealing.

It’s one thing to have a website, it’s another to get people to look at it, engage with it and even buy products or services from it.

Therefore, getting a professional web designer makes a lot of sense.

For example, websites are subject to extreme snap judgments. We’ve all done it.

Did you know that it takes less than a second for internet users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether or not they like it, and then stay on it?

Then, if the user decides they do like your website, what next? How easy is it to guide them to the shopping trolley for example, or to your contact page or number?

If a website is difficult to use, people will navigate away from it extremely quickly. They will give up and use an easier website.

Hence, if you want your website to work for you, it’s worth getting a professional designer or company to help.

Furthermore, if you do go down the road of building your own website, here are just some of the elements it must contain.

• A good structure
• Landing pages that generate sales and traffic
• Excellent photography
• Easy navigation
• Legal compliance
• SEO
• Regular, useful and fresh content
• Call to Actions
• FAQs
• Links to your social media sites
• Website hosting
• Mobile optimisation

So if you know enough about these elements, then you could try using a platform such as WordPress or Squarespace or Wix and start building your company website.

However, if you would like a really useful, engaging and well designed website with all the elements to attract potential customers, then a professional website company will be the best option.

Can a Website Be Bad for Business?

In short, yes it can. A website can be bad for business if it’s a bad website.

This is your online shop window, so if you are proud of your business in the real world, you also want to be proud of it online.

A poorly designed website with low quality photos that take ages to load will not reflect well on your business.

People who find your business online, or even current customers, may think it looks unprofessional and steer clear. This is the last thing you want.

Furthermore, if a client has found your website, likes the look of it but can’t find a way to pay or exactly what they are looking for, they will leave. And you will lose a sale.

Hence, the user experience of your website is just as important as its design.

Therefore, spending a portion of your budget on an excellent website designer will fix these problems immediately and give you a website to be proud of.

The Top 7 Benefits of a Great Company Website

The benefits of a good company website far outweigh any negatives aspects. There are many reasons to have a website, here are the top 7.

1. Customers Can See Your Products at Any Time

A traditional shop is only open when you can staff it.

However, online, people can look at your products 24/7. Which means that you can make a sale at anytime, without having to do it yourself.

These sales can build up and grow your business. Moreover, the costs of running a website are significantly less than a store or shop.

2. You Can Attract New Potential Clients

Traditional customers may find your company via footfall, advertising or word of mouth.

Whereas a website can attract new clients who may never have heard of your business before.

A professional and engaging website attracts new leads, people who are genuinely interested in your business.

Then, there is a greater chance that new leads will convert into new clients or customers.

3. It Can Help to Build Your Brand

A website allows customers to see what you are about. They can learn more about your products and services, maybe see behind the scenes or find out about your aims and values.

All without visiting you in person. Hence you can build up your brand and more people will notice your company and the quality of the products on offer.

4. Reach a Global Audience

Obviously, your website can reach people you normally can’t if you just had a traditional business or shop. And not just in your own country, but globally.

A website helps you to build a like minded community who are interested in your business. This community can come from anywhere in the world.

5. You Are in Control

With a website, you are in control of it. Even when using a website company or designer, you use their expertise, but have control over your business.

Whereas there’s always a risk with social media platforms that updates, comments or reviews can affect your business.

No-one else can amend or change your company website, unless you give them permission to, such as the website agency.

Therefore, you can control how your website represents your business.

6. Cost

Outsourcing your website to a professional team is a very easy and cost effective process, in comparison to other forms of advertising.

You can make last minute changes to a website and tailor it regularly to suit your needs, as opposed to traditional forms of advertising.

Moreover, there’s no cost in terms of producing and using material, paper or delivery.

After the initial outlay of paying for a website designer and ongoing support, there’s only annual hosting to pay for, unless you pay for online advertising too.

7. Credibility

In an online world, first impressions count and a good website will boost your credibility. An impressive website is a great introduction to your business.

Especially for new visitors who have never heard of your company before. Moreover, it can also build credibility with current customers who then recommend you to other people.

Essentially a website is the showcase for your expertise, so it needs to be impressive.

How to Choose a Website Design Agency

As your website can play a pivotal role for your business, then choosing a web design agency is a key decision for you.

Firstly, you need to be comfortable with who are working with. So it’s worth talking to a few agencies or designers to see who you like.

After all, you are outsourcing work to them and you need to know your business website is in good hands.

Can you see yourself working with them and building a good rapport? This will make your website build run a lot smoother.

Secondly, have a look at their previous work. There should be some examples you can look at.

This will give you an idea of the standard of their work and whether or not you like it.

A top tip is to look at their own website. Is it of a high standard? Is it easy to use?

Thirdly, it’s not just the design of the website that is important.

What functionality can the agency offer? For example, how will customers contact you? Are there any client logins? Is there potential for a live chat area?

Also ask questions before the agency starts on your website to make sure you are completely happy.

Such as, how long will the website build take? How much support is there after launch? What happens if something goes wrong?

Finally, you may have a niche company or product. Are you happy that the designer or agency can understand your business and how to appeal to customers?

You will get all the answers to these questions by having a thorough chat with the agency and then getting a quote to compare.

How Lead Genera Builds Websites

Developing, designing and building company websites is just one of the services offered by Lead Genera, based in Norfolk.

Their web development process starts with an initial fact find call, to fully understand what you want to achieve before the design begins.

The team will spend time getting to know your business and your goals.

You will talk about what you want to achieve, your aspirations and even cover what colours, fonts and branding you want for your website.

Next, there is the design phase. With all the knowledge from your chat, the designers and content members of the team are briefed to start work.

They will mock up each page of your website including the look, feel and functionality of it.

This gives you the chance to see the progress of the website and to highlight any minor changes you might want before a launch.

Then, the content team will put together content for each page; making sure it’s optimised for the search engines so that your company website is easy to find and that traffic flows to it from a search.

Through the build, you will receive regular updates to get your thoughts along the way. And to ensure you are happy with it.

Once you have signed off on the design stage, the web development team springs into action. They build the coding to ensure that the exact specifications you want can work well on every page. This is a very important stage, as the coding is essential to make sure your website functions properly.

And finally, it’s launch day. Your website is ready to show off.

As part of your contract, Lead Genera offers a 30 day support period, so if there’s anything that you’re not happy with, you can raise any queries during that time.

Conclusion

Regardless of what industry you are in, a company website can have a huge impact on the success of your business.

It can reach more potential customers than any business which is not online. Moreover, a large percentage of customers will visit a website before deciding to make a purchase. Hence you increase your chances of sales and growing your business.

Why Wouldn’t You Want a Company Website?

Some business owners may be concerned that they don’t have enough technical knowledge or understanding of the online world. Or maybe concerns over pricing.

However, by using a professional website design agency, you can get the best start possible. The agency will go through everything with you and talk you through how your website functions and how to keep it relevant and engaging.

After the initial build, in basic terms there is relatively little you need to do to watch your website boost your business. By using an agency like Lead Genera to build your website, you will see fast results and exciting sales growth.

Of course, to keep your website useful and relevant, you will need fresh content and ideas over time.

Your website should be part of your overall marketing strategy, therefore it becomes an important element of your business that you keep a track on.

Remember, a website that is not updated will slip down the search engine rankings and you will start losing traffic and sales.

Therefore, it must be an essential part of your business growth strategy and not an after thought.

Lead Genera is a business which can offer ongoing services for your company, including lead generation services, marketing consultancy and search engine optimisation.

So if there are other aspects of your business strategy that you need support with, including website development, then get in touch with the team today.