Small Business Talk
The Podcast to Grow your Business Faster
Why Social Media Isn’t Enough
Show Notes
Social media is great and should be part of your business marketing however it should not be all of your business marketing.
Do you really need a website for your business?
You would never build a patio, swimming pool and gorgeous outdoor kitchen at a house you were just renting. That is exactly what some business does on a social media. They build their entire shop front, marketing and sales system and then house it on rented ground on a social media platform that they have little control over.
Social Media Traffic
Social media is a great way to get brand awareness, talk to your audience and drive traffic. Now you need somewhere to drive that traffic and not just on the social media roundabout from one platform to another.
You need a website to house all of your assets and give your brand a central home.
Social Media Networks
Social media network have pages of rules and ever changing algorithms which can affect what you can post and even whether your audience will see them.
Where to Send your Traffic
Social media is a bridge between you and your customer, not the destination. The destination could be your website, your online shop or your physical bricks and mortar shop.
There are 3.1 billion people on social media and 4.7 billion people are NOT on social media according to statista.com.
That is a lot of folks who are not on social media.
There are 63,000 searches every second of everyday. 5.6 billion searches on Google every day and 200 million active websites.
Wouldn’t you like to have a bigger piece of that pie?
Why Have a Website for Your Business?
Having a website for your business means that you can continue the conversation that you started with your customers on social media. You can add value, give them information and resources. Your website should be your home base, your link to all your assets allowing customers easy access to everything they need to know about your business. You can bring together all your social media platforms into one place, your one stop shop. Embed your how to videos from YouTube, your informational video tutorials. Bring in your Facebook and Instagram feeds plus much more.
3 Reasons to Have a Website for Your Business
- Customer Expectation – serious businesses have websites
- Search – giving you a bigger piece of the search pie.
- Evergreen container to hold all your information in one place
What Should Website Look Like?
Your website should represent your business in its best light. Your website should be your unpaid sales rep that speaks to your potential customer even before you meet them.
Key components every website should have:
- Easy Navigation
- Up To Date Branding
- Contact Details
1. Easy Navigation
Minimalist designs have been the rage for a few years now but if your customer or potential customer can’t navigate around your website easily that won’t stay long.
Pay close attention to grouping similar concepts together. Keep each page about1 main thing and then link to areas that are similar.
For example
A beauty shop would have all there nail treatments together and then link to the facial treatments and a separate link to their makeup and another to massages. They wouldn’t have all the different types of services running down the page forever and ever or so short that there was no room for descriptions. They could have a categorised menu that linked to each of the treatment pages for a quick overview. When a client is unsure that services entails, they need to be able to read more and get extra information that a quick menu wouldn’t be able to provide.
Google is not going to list a menu of the services for all the different treatment types because there is not enough information to let Google know what it’s all about. Clear navigation to content rich pages is the key for Google to list your website.
2. Up to Date Branding
You wouldn’t allow the paint to be peeling off on your bricks and mortar store or the signage on your car to be half falling off but sometimes, the branding on our websites becomes an afterthought. Drag and drop website builders are great and often produce good looking websites however, they don’t always allow for custom branding for your business.
If your website is a reflection of your offline business, then you have a disconnect and building trust with potential customers will be much harder.
No one wants to do business with that tiny little shady looking shop at the end of a dark alley so make sure your website doesn’t give your customers that impression of your business. Build it and they will come only works in the movies and a website that was built some years ago and never updated will not instill confidence in your business.
Your website needs to be modern and reflect the look and feel of your business with your current branding.
3. Contact Details
We all know how frustrating it can be when you land on a website and all you want is a phone number of a way of contacting that business. Don’t keep your business phone number a national secret. Make it easy for customers to contact you.
Separate your personal and business phone numbers and email address so that you can publically have them listed so you can be contacted easily.
Why Social Media Isn’t Enough
Social media isn’t enough to have a sustainable business that you can build year after year. Having social media as part of your marketing plan not your only marketing plan will allow you to whether the ever changing social media platform storms. Having a well-designed, a well maintained and up to date website with solid search foundation will allow old and new customers to find you and do business with you.
Putting all your eggs in the social media basked without an evergreen website container to hold them can only end up causing your business to provide a very messy omelet at best or a soggy pile of egg shells at worst.
A good website is an asset for your business and when done well, can be a great investment, not an expense.
Need help with your website? See Cathy at CATCO Enterprises and have a chat about your requirements
Why Social Media Isn’t Enough
Listen to the full episode of Small Business Talk Podcast #068 to find out Why Social Media Isn’t Enough for Your Business