Want to know the number one reason why your business needs a website? Go to any search engine, enter your business name and see what comes up.
What do you see? If you don’t currently have a website, best case scenario you’ll find positive reviews, maybe neutral yellow pages listings. Completely unrelated websites appearing in the results isn’t necessarily harmful, but they’re not at all helpful. Worst case scenario you’ll find other people saying negative things about your business.
Having a website won’t automatically put you at the top of these results (for that you’ll need search engine optimization), but you’ll at least have a shot at being there.
But more than anything having a website gives you a voice to speak for yourself. Positive reviews are great, but they might not tell the whole story (and they can easily mess up basic information like your address). A yellow page listing can also be helpful, but it won’t give details about where to park or what your current promotion is. And negative comments—yikes. The only way to respond to that is to tell your side of the story. You can’t do that unless you have a space online that you control—your own site.
People are always looking for information online. If they’re looking for you, chances are they’ll find something. Better make sure that something is your website.
