Do you need a website?

I’m going to talk about the 10 most important benefits that are associated with having a (good) website for almost every company (big or small). How can your website both increase your profits and reduce your costs? Finally, I answer some frequently asked questions. These will continue to be expanded. So if you still have questions that remain unanswered after reading this article, don’t hesitate to  contact us.

Top 10 reasons why every company needs a (good) website

If you are not yet fully aware of the benefits of a good, professional website, this part will certainly provide a lot of clarity.

I would like to make an important clarification here. There is a very big difference between an unprofessional, outdated website (which you may or may not have developed yourself) and a professional website that has been worked out in detail on the most important aspects.

If you were to opt for the former, most of the benefits you’ll find below would vanish. Your website is like an online business card. It’s often a first contact with and a first impression of your company for the visitor. If it does not meet certain quality requirements and standards, you will give a bad first impression. You are sending out a negative signal.

At OMNIA Web Agency, all our websites, without exception, meet a whole series of quality requirements. We optimise websites so that they give you and your company the best possible result. You can also see this for yourself by viewing our portfolio.

The list below is not in any particular order.

1. Online business card and point of contact

Imagine… Someone in your network recommends you to a friend. This friend then starts looking for you online. He will want to know more about you(r) (company) and has a lot of questions that need to be answered before he is ready to contact you.

Are there any testimonials (social proof)? How long have you been around? What is your mission and vision? How do you work? What are your opening/contact hours? How can you be reached? Where are you located? And so on!

These are questions to which, without a website, he will usually not find an answer. Or at least not as easily. So what does he find? Competing companies that do invest in online visibility.

In other words, your website is an online business card. Even when you still hand out physical cards (which even I still do, for example), it is essential that your website is mentioned on them. How else can your potential customer obtain the necessary information and make a buying decision?

In addition to a larger reach, a website also ensures that potential customers immediately find an answer to many important questions. Who are you, why should they choose you, what do you do differently, how much will your products or services cost them – or can they request a free quote,…

2. Online real estate

“How can a website compare to real estate”, you may now be wondering. Let me explain this a little further.

When you invest in most forms of (offline) marketing, it may bring results in the short term. However, it always requires a new investment to continue to see those results, and it often also involves large amounts. For medium-sized to large companies, this involves many thousands of dollars per month.

I am thinking of brochures (which are only usable temporarily), posters, advertisements on TV, advertisements in newspapers, business cards, or even social media marketing that is not linked to a complete digital strategy,… It costs a lot of money, offers no guarantee results and is often difficult to analyse. So when you do get results, you don’t even know which efforts brought you those results.

A website, on the other hand, is permanent. It’s a place you create on the Internet that can be linked with a lot of other online activities (and that can be linked to) in order to build an online corporate identity. Are you expanding your range of products or services? Do your prices change? Do you have a temporary promotion going on? It is simple and inexpensive to have the necessary changes made. What’s more, thanks to WordPress (which we exclusively work with), you could even make certain changes yourself.

When you post long messages on Facebook or other social media, they get “lost” after a while. Hardly anyone will still find them. The time and energy you invest in this will surely yield results. However, when you post the same messages in a blog on your website, there is a good chance that there will still be people who end up there, extracting value and converting from visitor to customer of your company years later. Do you see the difference? In addition, it’s also possible that the visitor was looking for an answer to question x, but your blog post about another topic also interests him. This results in more time on your website, which signals to Google that your website deserves a higher position compared to your competitors.

3. Show what you can do

You can easily use your website as a portfolio to show both potential customers and existing customers what you can do and what you have already achieved. When a company first moves into the digital world by launching a website, it may refresh the memory of its existing customers.

So you can easily inform your customers about this by sending a newsletter and/or by posting on social media. Depending on which products or services your company offers, you may have earned back your investment just by the extra sales from existing customers.

4. Credibility and professionalism

I always find it very important to be able to put myself in the position of a consumer. So ask yourself: “How do I search for products/services?”, “Which company would I choose – one that has 100 positive reviews online, or one that is completely untraceable in Google?”, “How do I get there?”, “What message do I send if I don’t have a website?” or “What if I have an unprofessional website?”, “What information do I need from a company before making a purchase?” …

No matter how you look at it, the reality is that a website is indispensable today if you want to make a professional impression as a company and increase your credibility. Online findability radiates confidence among consumers – read your potential customers. It shows that you want to make yourself known. When your website contains information such as: who are you, what exactly do you offer, how much do your products/services cost, how much experience do you have, what do existing customers say, which partnerships do you have,… this gives you a clear advantage over a company that has hardly any information online. In other words, it also offers you the opportunity to distinguish yourself.

5. Achieving results passively

With a website you don’t always have to be working to get new customers. A website is online 24/7. The information that can be found on it is always available. At any time of the day, of the week, of the year, someone can come to your website and find an answer to their problem.

Our websites always contain an easy way to contact you. This can be done in several ways, and will also depend on your own company policy.

How much “passive results” you get is highly dependent on who you work with to build your online identity and online business strategy. In addition, it also depends on your budget and/or your own commitment. For example, we have a unique range of services aimed at achieving maximum results.

In short, with a website you can always be found by new customers. Even when you are traveling or sleeping. You are always available. We also help you to share your company’s message to the outside world.

No fear; this does not mean that you can be called day and night. However, you will receive new requests immediately and can respond to them as quickly as possible.

6. Time and money saving

This advantage is also linked to the part about “online real estate”. Yes, there is a certain investment involved in launching a website. However, this should not deter you at all. Not least, because a website is just as essential as any other part of your business – from what you’re offering itself, to any other form of marketing.

Even though an initial investment is required and there are also annual costs, in almost 100% of the cases, a website will provide you with an increase in turnover that is greater than the costs for your website in a very short period of time. Just think about the example I gave at the beginning. How many customers have you lost without knowing it, because you didn’t have a website or a website that is unprofessional (can be in terms of design, layout and/or speed)?

Because from now on you can communicate all information, promotions, changes,… via your website and other online tools, you also save a lot of time. How much time does it take you to develop and distribute new brochures? Not to mention, how much money does it cost?

Not having a professional website costs you money every day.

7. Analysis opportunities

When you invest money in promotion, nothing is more important than the ability to measure your results. How else can you know if your marketing budget is being spent well? How else do you know where to change things?

In other words, you have to find out what works and what doesn’t.

A website offers you almost unlimited possibilities in this area. We can help you analyse your competitors (what do they do), the number of visitors you get per month, which pages are the most popular, through which channel they arrive at your website,…

This type of analysis offers many new opportunities to put effort in that which gives you the best results. You can invest more energy/time/money in what has been proven to work. You can improve things that are currently not working or decide not to invest in them anymore.

8. Reach new customers thanks to SEO

A website is so much more than just what is visible on the outside. At OMNIA Web Agency we mainly focus on 5 different aspects for all our websites: speed, digital marketing, analysis, consultancy and security.

The time it takes on our part to perform these optimisations is not necessarily visible to customers when they visit your website. What it does do is make their visit pleasant, encourage them to take the desired action (e.g. contact you, request a quote, place an order,…) and ensure that they land on your website in the first place.

The latter is actually how everything comes together. SEO or Search Engine Optimisation, is by far the most important factor that can strengthen your website and turn it into a “money machine”. It is, in my opinion, much more powerful than many other forms of marketing in that it is cheaper and produces better results.

Part of your digital marketing strategy may be to invest in social media. In this case, Facebook posts can play an important role. However, without a website, the core of your strategy is missing. Your strategy should be built around your website, not the other way around. Only in this way can you achieve the best results. Maintaining and increasing your customer base and therefore also your turnover.

9. Outsmart competitors

Even today, in the U.S. alone, millions of (small) businesses don’t have a website yet. Millions more have a bad one (source). In other words, there are a huge number of companies that are not yet taking advantage of the online world and the additional income that can result. This includes your competitors.

It’s only a matter of time before they get these insights and start using them on a website, SEO and a comprehensive online business strategy. So today you have the ultimate choice.

Are you outpacing your competition by investing in a professional website? Or do you wait until your competitors do it first and it will become increasingly difficult (and more expensive) for you to follow suit?

10. Increased turnover and profit

To conclude this list, perhaps the most important reason to invest in a professional website. Namely the increased turnover and profit that this entails.

The (hard) reality is that most sales today are done online. Companies that do not evolve along with it will go bankrupt or see their turnover drop every year. Contrary to what you may think, you don’t necessarily need an e-commerce shop to realise a lot of extra profits with your website.

Developing an online strategy means that you will guide the customer / client step by step in his purchase process. You understand the customer / client in this and you answer the right, relevant questions.

Every website should have a clear purpose. When this is not the case, visitors will be much less inclined to take the desired action. This is called achieving a “conversion”. You can see it as converting visitors into new customers for your company.

So, if you 1. ensure that you get a lot of visitors to your website (mainly through SEO work and all kinds of optimisations of the website) and 2. makes sure that the website they land on is attractive, well constructed, contains the right information and contains a clear “call-to-action” (what do you want them to do?), then your website is guaranteed to give a serious boost to the turnover of your company.

Frequently asked questions

This part of the article is an FAQ where I’m going to answer some specific questions about whether or not to have a business website. In addition, it is also a summary of objections that business owners often have for not taking the step towards the online world and having a professional website.

“I have a small business and also find a lot of customers offline.”

Google does not distinguish between small and large companies. This means that you have an equally good chance of distinguishing yourself from the competition by means of a professional website (and whether or not you invest in SEO). Even if you already have a large network, if you are not or hardly visible online, you are guaranteed to lose customers.

“A website costs a lot of money. I have a small business, I don’t sell products online, so I won’t be able to make any profit from it.”

A website does not have to cost a lot of money. Transparency is very important for us. That’s why we have a CUSTOM WEB Package with a fixed pricing structure. You even have the option to do a website price calculation online yourself. Moreover, you don’t have to pay in one go, we offer you the option to spread your payments over a maximum of 6 months! As you can read above, you can also increase revenue from your website if you don’t sell products online. Whatever you do, more customers = more sales. A good website is the perfect way to achieve this goal.

“I already use social media. Do I still need a website?”

First and foremost: congratulations! A lot of companies don’t know how important social media is in building their brand name. However, just because of this, it may be even more important to invest in a website. This offers your fans a place where they can find all the necessary information about your company, at any time, and contact you easily. It is your personal piece of online real estate and helps you stand out from the competition.

How can OMNIA Web Agency help you?

There are even more benefits to having a professional website. So feel free to see this article as a summary, an overview that can help you make the right decision for your company.

If you are convinced and would like a website, I invite you to read more about our CUSTOM WEB Package as well as our portfolio. Do you then wish to discuss your project further? Please don’t hesitate to contact us or make your own price calculation .