So, you’ve gotten your startup off the launching pad, and your teamiseager to provide the service or product that you’ve worked so hard to develop. You’ve even equipped your company with everythingit needs—the best technological solutions and other resourcesyour budget can buy—to ensure that you can provide your customers quality service right off the bat. You’ve also set into motion an ongoing ad campaign to promote your businessso you canreachyour target demographic and hit the ground running.
By all rights, business should be brisk and demand for your services should be high.Except it’s not. In fact, business is slow, with barely any new customers coming in for inquiries or service requests. What could be causing this?
While there could be any number of reasons for your business’s slow and uneventful start, one of the more obvious ones may be your lack of a an efficient, well-thought-out company website. Having one canbringa great number of benefits to your business—advantages that can greatly contribute to your becoming a real contender in the industry you’ve decided to compete in.
To help you get a better picture on how important having a business website is, here are some of the ways one can increase your competitive advantage.
It gets you the attention your business deserves
Thanks to the widespread popularity of the internet, having a website these days is all but a prerequisite to running a business. Youwon’t likely be catching the attention you want or need by just simply having a website with your company’s name on it—and nothing else. In fact, it may even sink your brand further back into obscurity, especially if your website doesn’t have anything distinct or memorable about it that makes it worthy of people’s time and attention.
However, if your website is not only attention-grabbing in all the right ways but also provides a great user experience, then you’re on the right track to setting yourself apart from your competitors. This will get your website more visitors and engender better engagement, and as such,you get more opportunities to convert visitors into paying customers.
But how does a business manage to get a website that has those qualities? By hiring a digital design firm with extensive experience, of course. A professional digital design firm possessesall the expertiseand know-how to createan online portal that truly speaks of your brand, not just create something that looks as if it’s been copy-pasted from a free template.
Moreover, a design agency will also leverage all its experience to ensure that your website provides great user experience or UX, especially if you’re using it as an ecommerce site to sell your services or products online.
Itreduces your operating costs
If your website is designed competently, it can help reduce your operating costs by standing in for expensivebusiness activitiesthat you normally would have to pay out of pocket for, such as ad campaigns or even setting up physicalstores.
Let’s illustrate this with an example. Imagine for a moment that your business is all about gadget and tech retail. As such, you’ve set up a small brick-and-mortar establishment at your local mall in order to sell directly to your customers.
By doing this, not only will you have to regularly pay rent for the space you’re occupying, you also need to paythe staff managing your retail outlet. There’s also other expenses to consider, such as payment for your use of utilities and the amenities. All these expenses can build up and affect your bottom line.
However, if you already have a competentlydesigned e-commerce website, this means that you won’t have to keep paying for a physical store, and instead just operate your business directly from your main office. This also allows you to channel the financial resources you would have expended on the rent and upkeep of the store to other important areas of your business instead.
It makes you more trustworthy in the eyes of your customers
Having a professionallydesigned website affords your business the authority and trustworthiness it needs to attract new customers. For one, your website is a space where you can reinforce the idea that you’re not just a faceless corporate entity trying to earn money, but someone who actually sees and understands acustomer need and seeks to find solutions. It thus humanizes your company.
Secondly, having a functional website also helps put forth the ideathat you are planning to stay in business for as long aspossible. Customers generally feel that they can trust and rely upon a company if they can see that it’s in for the long haul, rather than being a bare-bones operation that could close up shop at any moment. By having a full-fledged web presence, you put out the idea that while your company is new, it doesn’t lack ambition, drive, and the will to succeed.
It opens you up to a bigger customer base
If your business has a website and it allows those outside your primary area of operationto partake in your products or services, then that opens you up to a bigger customer base. However, make sure to take into consideration all of the things that could affect the delivery of your products or services to this wider circle of customers. These include local or international laws and regulations, taxation requirements, and shipping and postage.
All of thesecan add a bit more complexity to your startup’s operations. Either make surethat your company can handle this increased level of complexity, or disallow purchases from certain groups of customers entirely, e.g. those that require their orders to be shipped internationally when you don’t have the logistical means to do so.
It makes your business a lot easier to return to
A professionallymade website can be a lot of help in converting one-time purchase customers into regular returning ones. This is due to the fact that these customers can easily take note of your online shop’s URL or bookmark it for more information or for later use. They won’t have to consult maps or ask for directions just to get to a physical place where they can buyyourproducts or obtain yourservices. Insteadyou’re only just a click away on their favorite browser.
Don’t let your business become one of the many startups that failed even before they could even grow. Hire a well-experienced digital design firm to handle all your visual and branding needs, especially when it comes to the look and functionality of your official business website. Doing so ensures that you’re able to project an image that sets you apart from your competitors, while also endearing yourself to your potential customers or clients.
