Small Business Websites..."if I build it, will they come?"

In the beginning….

Before the Internet, plenty of small businesses survived and thrived. They also had no social media, or websites to promote their services. So what has changed? The answer is quite simple. What started as a trickle has turned into a torrent of consumers moving online to shop. They still go to a physical shop for some purchases, but where they can achieve same in the comfort of their home, they are opting for that, and statistics are showing that upward trend.
The Internet has disrupted all sorts of markets, but particularly the retail consumer market. The Internet is where they interact socially, research, get a date and most importantly for small business, search for products and services. So it makes sense to leverage off that market for your business. How? Well, one way is a small business website.
Small Business Website – Why?

So why would a small business bother with a website? Depending on the type of business you have, there are lots of reasons and here are some of the key ones:
- Brand awareness.
- A “Shangri-la” destination for your customers on social media.
- A value add to primary revenue.
- Additional revenue stream.
- Customer communication channel.
- Automation of repetitive processes.
- Order and delivery products/services.
What do all of these have in common? They all directly or indirectly link back to “revenue”; whether it be maintaining revenue, or increasing it. You don’t spend time and effort raising brand awareness for the sake of brand awareness. You do it because you want more people to buy your products and services.
Brand awareness

It should be obvious, that presenting a professional face to your customers is a high priority. And because most retail consumers spend a great deal of time online, it makes sense to tap into that market with a website.
Why not just use Facebook or Instagram I hear you ask? Good question. Read this – Website vs Social Media – Which Is Better For Your Company? to answer that question (spoiler alert! It’s not one OR the other).
A basic website, often referred to it as “brochure website”, because it resembles the printed business brochures. They detail the name of the company, the services they offer and how to contact them. The brochure website is a relatively inexpensive entry point to creating an online presence for your small business and boosting brand awareness, even if it starts with a website link on your business card.
Successful brand awareness that ranks your website high in search results through a search engine such as Google or via a social media platform such as Facebook is also a must in marketing campaigns.
Websites, if well designed, with the right content, can assist in converting prospects in to paying customers more efficiently. You of course, are still integral in that process, but a website can take some of the load off.
A "Shangri-la" destination for your customers on social media

You don’t have to decide between using social media or a website, as alluded to in the spoiler alert above. Social media is great for “foot traffic”, because a lot of people use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and many others, for work and personally. What they are not great for is being the sole face of your business online presence.
Think of it like this…you have a shop in a busy shopping centre. Centre Management runs the shopping centre and has a lot of rules dictating the design of your shop front, the layout inside your shop and even has rules for how you conduct business with your customers. If you break those rules, even inadvertently, they can terminate your lease, often without recourse. That my friends, is how the major social media platforms operate.
Where the small business website comes into its own, is when you can drive that valuable social media traffic to your business website where you are the master of your domain in presenting the face of your business, hence a major consideration.
Value add to primary revenue
An example: you have a landscaping business where you generate revenue by landscaping peoples homes. A website can provide a value add by showing off previous customer projects, showcasing the quality of your work. This can build a level of trust and confidence that you can deliver what they need. Posting reviews of customers of projects you have completed can have the same effect.
Additional revenue stream.

Staying with the landscaping example; you may also decide to create alternative revenue by selling plants to the public via an online store. Or maybe you are a popular local business and want to sell merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs etc. It won’t hurt brand awareness either. You could also create a paid subscription service offering online garden maintenance tutorials. Coupled with that, subscribers receive discounts on landscaping services You are only limited by your imagination and of course, your budget.
Customer communication channel

Plenty of small businesses use their mobile phone as the primary means of communication with their customers, and staff can also spend a lot of time answering the same questions over and over. Why not have all those questions on your site with the answers. The more people can discover the answers to questions and other valuable information on your website, the more time you have to do other things. It’s not a replacement, but it can provide an initial vetting process to filter out “tyre kickers”. If/when they contact you, they will be a more likely be a serious prospect. Your website could also have a contact form to field non-urgent general enquiries via email and even text message notifications. You can then prioritise a response at the appropriate time. If you have periodic promotions or just general news you want to get out to your customers, then what better way than through an automated newsletter subscription service that keeps your customers up to date with relevant news.
A word of caution – There are a lot of benefits to creating efficient communication channels, but don’t fall into the trap where you cut off important avenues for your customers to interact directly with you or your staff. One of the key reasons small businesses are successful is the personal touch. People appreciate human interaction. And often, when businesses get busy, they start replacing those avenues with automated message services, call centres, online chat bots. Use such systems to augment communications, not replace the human contact which should always be there.
Automation of repetitive processes.

Something that busy small business operators are always short of, is time. So anything that addresses it is worth investigating. Let’s take for instance an online bookings and payment system. If you operate a business where you spend a lot of time taking bookings over the phone or by email, there is so much scope to create efficiencies by automating these types of processes where your time is better spent doing more productive things. Your payment systems, in some instances can even be integrated with your accounting software.
Order and deliver products/services (e-store).

Even if you have physical products that you sell direct to customers on a one to one basis, maybe from a shop front, it makes sense to leverage off that for your online community and potentially increase your customer base. There isn’t much that isn’t suited to selling online, so if your business services/products could be sold online, it is worth investigating.
Budget – Rule of thumb

Finally, the question that is always asked. How much do I need to spend? If you are after a simple 4 page website (Home page, Services, About Us and a Contact page), I would be looking at spending between $1200 – $2000 (approx $300-$500 per page), which is reasonable, providing you do your homework. Don’t let price alone guide your decision.
If you are looking for complex speciality services like an online training platform or paid subscription services, cost is a more difficult question to answer. There are a myriad of variables, and will centre around ROI. e.g. if I spend $15000 building an e-store, when and how much will I get a on my return on investment. Answering those questions is what any business; online or not, has to answer as part of their normal business planning process.
The last thing I would say about budget, particularly for a cash flow business, don’t over extend yourself financially. I would suggest if cash is tight, start small and stage the building of your website starting at least with the basic brochure site and work on driving traffic from social media to your site as well as optimising search engine ranking. Then grow into additional functionality as cash and circumstances permit.
In conclusion
So, I have briefly covered how a small business website can benefit from a website including the value adds. I hope this provides some guidance and food for thought to assist you making decisions about budget and website functionality.
Author Bio

Adam is the owner and web designer at 2 Cups Web Design. He has owned and operated small businesses and understands the day to day stresses. He now works from home and lives in a rural region of Perth…. and loving it!!