Why do small & medium USA businesses need a professional website in 2022, even it's not selling online?

At the onset of civilization, people used the barter system (you have goat & I have wheat - if you want wheat, give me a goat... like that) to exchange goods and services, then around 600 B.C. the king Croesus of Lydia introduced coins & many of the kingdoms started to adopt this system. In the 17th Century in Europe paper notes (banknotes) gained prominence & spread around the world. The present medium of exchange is digital currency, plastic currency (credit/debit cards), paper notes, coins i.e., mostly whatever the customer is comfortable with...

Oh darn, we are supposed to talk about website & digital presence kind of stuff, not about origins of money, so here is the glimpse of data related to internet usage & adaptation.

Around 95.5% of the US population uses the internet daily with the number of hours people spent online is increasing gradually. With technological advancements & mass adaptation, Cellular network data speed increased from 11 Mbps in 2016 to 23 Mbps in 2022 & the prices are reducing. Further revenue from e-commerce in 2021 is expected to cross $767 billion (was $644 Bn. in 2020), which tells that consumers are using the internet not just to scroll through cute cat & dog pictures.

The above data shows that not just the future even the present is dependent on having a great digital presence. This online first trend is not going anywhere & is growing to increase as more & more people are becoming technologically savvy. If the above data, doesn't convince you to have a website for your business, here are a few more traditional reasons for why you should have one.

1. Website is a basic necessity & is preferred

Simply put your customer expect your business to at least have a website & long gone the days where the customer used to visit your shiny office for every little thing. It's no more a good-to-have option rather a must-have feature.

2. It's adulteration & distraction-free

If you post something on Facebook/Twitter or whatever platform you like, your finely crafted post will be lost in the sea of suggestions & advertisements added by the respective platform. With your own website & app, you show your product & services along with your other products and definitely not with your competitors.

3. Give credibility to your business

If you have your own website, you tell the story about your business with the narration that makes it great. Without that, it will be mostly what your competitors said, what customers heard & imagined. It offers social proof that the business is healthy & forward-thinking.>

4. 24 x 7 reach

Consider your website like the best marketing executive who never sleeps & provide all the necessary information for your users whenever & wherever they need it.

5. Increases brand awareness & generate leads

Before making any purchases around 75% of users search the internet about the product & services, with a well-optimized website your chances of getting in front of potential customers are high, which directly improves your bottom line. With your own website, it is easy to run google & Facebook ads to improve your sales. A website with all the bells & whistles gives great leverage to improve business.

6. It's unrestricted

It's a place to tell everything about your business in whatever fashion you & your customers like without worrying about the restrictions placed by other platforms. You command what is good for your company & not for someone else's.

7. It expands your sphere of influence

With a better digital presence you are able to reach more people and with many people know that your business is a forward-looking one. It's easy to represent your business & staff as a competent and authoritative figure in the segment you are catering to.

In today's hyper-competitive market, it is always a wise investment to be where your customers are, no matter your company is a small scale, medium, or large one. Most businesses are already laid a strong foundation on this because the next wave of growth depends on digital presence.

If are worried that maintaining a website needs a lot of money & time, you are partially right and Of course, technology change is rapid in this field and it is difficult to staff & maintain an in-house engineering team just to maintain a website. But the good thing is we are specialized in design, development, hosting, maintenance of websites & mobile apps, you could outsource your projects to us so you can focus more on core business matters.

...By the way, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the barter system, except you don't live with the very few communities in African bushes that use it.

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