In 2020, more than 30 million Poles were active on the Internet and spent on average almost 6 hours and 26 minutes a day (according to the DIGITAL 2020 report). Moreover, almost 60.9% of 16 to 74-year-olds bought goods or services online last year (according to the Central Statistical Office). The Internet offers incredible opportunities to reach the customer, yet many entrepreneurs, especially small service providers, still refuse to start their own website.
This serious mistake restricts development and deprives them of a powerful platform for advertising, setting up online visits, and contacting the customer. If you run your own business, have a service establishment or sole proprietorship, then here are 7 reasons why you should create your own place on the web:
First of all:
Builds a professional image
Your own website on the Internet can be the perfect showcase for your business. It’s a place where you present yourself to your customer will show what you are doing, what you can offer, and why you should be trusted.
Why is it so important? For most customers, your website will be the first contact with your business. Show them you are an expert, a professional who can provide them with a specific benefit. For example:
- A hairdresser – a new, attractive hairstyle.
- A dietitian – healthy and low-calorie meals.
- A personal trainer – an effective training plan and an attractive silhouette.
You don’t have much time for this. Research shows that the average Internet user needs 10 seconds to form an opinion about a given website. The right selection of graphics, advertising slogans, and benefits will allow you to catch the customer’s attention enough to encourage him or her to read your offer and contact you. And this is what business is all about, to acquire more customers, right?
Two:
Present the offer
Once your website has drawn the attention of a potential customer, it will be the ideal place to present a detailed offer. To do this, it’s worth describing exactly what you do, which techniques you use, and what effects you guarantee. It is important to present all of this from the customer’s perspective, focus on the benefits you can provide, and address the concerns accompanying them.
Describe all of this in a language that your audience can understand, avoid difficult words and industry slang. Enhance your offer for photos, statistics, or opinions from satisfied customers. Don’t avoid promotions or special offers.
It is important to end the offer presentation with a CAT (Call to Action). This must be a simple sentence, addressed directly to the customer and urging them to order the service or sign up for an appointment. For example:
- Call us,
- Register today,
- Book an appointment.
Remember to include a phone number for the customer to call or provide an online appointment form with the CTA.
This way, you can easily guide the customer from being interested in your services to registering for an appointment and spending their first money with you. Best of all, it will take place without your direct involvement. Your own website will act like a thoroughbred seller, bringing new customers to you.
Three:
It is the simplest form of advertising
Small businesses, especially those providing services, do not have many advertising opportunities daily. As a rule, it is limited to displaying advertising banners on the premises, handing out leaflets, or verbal recommendations given by satisfied customers. These are all effective methods, but they are very limited in scope. Your own website allows you to reach many new customers and make them interested in your offer.
How do I do this? There are a lot of possibilities. First of all, the website must contain all the necessary information that the customer may be looking for. What do you offer? How do you offer it? What benefit do you provide? At what price? Why should I trust you?
It is worth supporting this with evidence and adding to your website your portfolio and recommendations. For example, if you run a hair salon, place pictures of the nicest hairstyles you have created. A personal trainer can show the transformations of their customers, a beautician can show the effects of their treatments, and a physical therapist can show the benefits of their massages. This will find its application in each industry and affect consumer purchasing decisions.
Add to that the reviews of satisfied customers. Ask for permission and put their statements on your website, and they will be read by hundreds of Internet users, not just a narrow circle of friends. Think how many times you have decided to buy a product yourself because someone recommended it. Social proof is a powerful tool that encourages people to buy, and it is worth using.
Especially since they can be further enhanced using digital marketing practices and tools. Having your own website, you can promote it using tools such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads. This is a little more expensive but can quickly generate tangible results. If you want to increase your reach or advertise quickly, this investment can pay off very fast.
(Not sure how to do this? Use our virtual marketing assistant – click HERE to find out more)
Four:
Facilitates customer contact
Your own website will also function as an interactive information brochure, available at all times. Please include your phone number, email address, booking form and make it easier for customers to contact you.
Why is it so important?
Let’s take a moment to consider where a new customer will have the phone number for your company or service establishment. From a phone book? Nobody uses them anymore. From an advertising leaflet? You have to get it somewhere in advance, and it can be easily lost. From an advertising banner? This requires some effort, stopping and writing down the company’s phone number. Nobody will want to do that.
Almost anyone who wants to make an appointment to see you but doesn’t have or can’t remember your number will first try to search for it on the Internet. What happens if they can’t find it? There is a significant risk of giving up and calling someone else, and you will lose a potential customer.
Therefore, it is very important to have your own website, even a very simple one, containing only basic information and contact information. Of course, the more advanced the website, the better the effect it can have. It can be beneficial to add a booking program to your own website that…
Five:
Allows you to make appointments online
This point ties into the previous one, but it deserves additional recognition due to its importance for service businesses. The introduction of an online appointment booking system can make managing your calendar very easy, saving both time and nerves.
Probably everyone who has worked in the service sector knows this feeling when a customer calls at the wrong time. The patient is already undressed and prepared for the procedure, is sitting in the chair and waiting for a haircut, or starts warming up before training, and here the phone rings. What should you do? Pick up the phone and irritate your current customer, or ignore it and lose a potential customer? There is no good option.
From the customer’s perspective, a telephone reservation is also not ideal. It requires calling during specific hours, most often in the middle of the day, when a person has other responsibilities or obligations. Who of us not until evening remembered that you were supposed to make an appointment with a hairdresser or call a physiotherapist? Then we promise ourselves that tomorrow we will definitely take care of it and remember 100%. And then the story repeats…
The online visit booking program will help both you and your customers. It will reduce the intensity of phone calls, redirect a large part of the traffic to the site and increase the total number of visits. Automatic synchronization with your calendar will require virtually no effort from you. Simply open the app on your phone, and you’ll have a full of schedule at your fingertips.
Your customers will be able to log in at any time of day or night. Easy, quick, and convenient – with all possible online time slots and no need to call the salon. This can make your business more efficient.
Six:
Increases your credibility
The Internet is now the first place for prospective customers to look for information about you. What will their perception be if they don’t find anything? What happens if the search engine only posts negative comments? Your credibility will fall in their eyes, and you will probably not be able to encourage them to use your services anymore.
This can be avoided very easily. When you set up your own website, it will probably be the first place a customer will go when looking for information about you. This will immediately increase your credibility, reassure people that such a company does exist and it is worth giving their money and trust.
Recently, it is becoming increasingly popular to think that “if something is not on the Internet, it does not really exist”. Without an online presence, you have absolutely no influence on how Internet users perceive your business. You can’t tell them about your business. This discourages and negatively affects the buying intent of potential customers. And this is something no business can afford.
Seven:
It works 24 hours a day
Finally, it is worth stressing that all the above benefits will work for you on a non-stop basis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People are browsing the Internet at various, odd times – even in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn – and when they are interested in something, they can make decisions on the spur of the moment.
A properly created website can turn their interest into an immediate purchasing decision. A visually appealing layout, interesting offer, reliable feedback, and an online booking system make your business more attractive, and sales are generated automatically. Even at night, when you sleep, your website is still working for the success of your business.
Additionally:
Creating your own website can be relatively inexpensive
Achieving all of the benefits described above is not complicated or requires no special expenses. On the surface, it may seem that the process of creating a website is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Buying a domain, hiring a web developer, ordering a graphic design, preparing descriptions – all this may exceed the budget and possibilities of a smaller entrepreneur. You might also check this step by step guide on How to design a website.
However, there are online website builders available on the market that help you generate professional websites for business independently and at a low cost.
One of them is the Calendesk, an application dedicated to small entrepreneurs and service providers. It allows you to create your own website in less than an hour. It provides more than 20 pre-defined templates and nearly 300 customization options, the ability to add an online booking system, and the support of the virtual marketing assistant. With calendesk.pl, you can easily, quickly, and cost-effectively build your own website without hiring a web developer.
Wondering how to set up a website?
Learn more about calendesk.pl
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