I currently talk to small businesses everyday, trying to encourage and help the owners understand the importance of their own business web presence. Sometimes it is unbelievable the responses I get. Most small business owners cannot see the advantage of having their own website. So many say “I am on Facebook – and that’s free – so I don’t need a website” and others say, which is really shocking, I don’t use a computer very much so I can’t see the advantage.
Facebook is a great tool. It is free for a small businesses, but it is not a search engine. Because of this, most people would not use Facebook to search for a hairdresser or a plumber for instance. The majority of the public use Google when searching for things they need. For instance, if you search for “local plumber” in Google, Facebook is nowhere to be seen. So why even consider Facebook as the only tool to promote your business?
So my message to small business owners is this. Consider a website as your most important advertising tool because times have changed and the old tools don’t work as well as they used to.
Don’t build your own website, unless you have an idea of what you are getting into, because it just won’t work. Make sure when you have a website you tell everyone by word and mouth, Facebook, signage, business cards and everything else you would normally use to advertise your business. Why? Because your website describes you, it gives your history, explains your talents, shows your reviews, and so much more.
Think about it, a website is now a business essential, not just another expense.
