You are aware of the fact that if you want to increase the popularity of your brand, you need to promote it through the social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc. But there is one thing for sure – no matter how many business pages you have on social media, all of them combined cannot compare to the effect of a website.
According to a recent research, branded social networking pages get only 22% of customer visits, compared to the 62% of people who regularly visit branded websites. So, if your site is out of date, we strongly recommend that you think of a refresh. After reading this article you will agree with me that websites do still matter.
The following five reasons why you need a website are surely not everything. So if you know more reasons to keep your website, feel free to share them with me.
Branding: This is your website, isn’t it? This means that the design is set according to your ideas and view of your business model. So, your site has no competition because it represent your own ideas online.
Engineering Jurisdiction and IT: We have already mentioned this above but this is your website, right? So, you have the complete juridical rights over everything that goes with it – its content, its plug-ins, its code, page count, hosting environment – everything you can think of. And all of these give you the ability to make small or bigger changes on the website, something you will not get if you simply have a social media page. Social media websites allow you to adjust only slightest changes to the page – some content and maybe graphics, but not the whole interface.
Content: Surely, no other website contains as much information and content about your business as your own website. You need a content that will win over your customers and convince them that you are the perfect business for them. They have to find in you offer what they are looking for, that you are a business they can trust. And once you have that content, you stand a higher chance of a visitor taking action with respect to your products and services.
The Art of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): You must be aware of the fact that the higher a website is positioned in the main search engines(Google, Yahoo and Bing), the more visitor this website will get and hence the number of sales increase. And you can optimise only a website that is your own.
Analytics: Most social networks provide you with data such as who and how often visits their social website, your own website analytic tools do this and much more. You will know how your online marketing performs, will determine the kind of business you need to link to and will keep you informed of the competition.
But please, do not misunderstand me. I am not telling you to draw back from social networks only to run your own website. What I want to advise you is first to do a website and then use the social media to promote and advertise it and this actions will convert to ready-to-pay customers. Or to put it simply, make social media websites work for your own website.