A “ready to purchase” customer’s last stop is, typically, a company website, a directory, or a ratings/review site. 59% of small businesses rely on those directory and review sites instead of "planting their flag" online, just so they can be found by potential customers that might never have found them otherwise. But no one can tell your small business story better than you.
There are important reasons to have your own small business website.
- The consumer market has changed radically the in just the last few years. “Mobile search” took the lead over desktop search in September of 2015.
- And “near me” searches (people searching – on their smartphone – for the nearest place to get what they just now decided to buy) have increased 146% year over year, and 88% of those happen on mobile devices.
And even if your small business is listed "for free", the hidden costs of relying on directory and review sites add up.
First, you have to understand that they're not doing it for you. They're doing it because it’s good
for their business. Once someone searches for “X”, the search engines, directories, and ratings/review sites know what that someone is interested in, and will deliver ads (for a price, paid by advertisers) intended to feed those interests.
That's not wrong. They're in business, too. They provide a valuable service.
But isn't that YOUR data? Doesn't it belong in your customer database? That only happens if that searcher went to YOUR website. And better still, you get that data, even if they didn’t visit you – this time. You get to invite them to your small business the next time they decide to buy.
It's also important to have a website that's designed
“mobile-first”. Here's why:
A “mobile optimized” website – a website designed
to be viewed on a desktop computer – shrinks to fit on a smartphone or
tablet screen:
You may have tried to
visit a favorite website and discovered it’s so tiny on your smartphone that
you can't read it; you can’t click links even if, you can see them,
unless you “expand”.
THEN, you have to
scroll back and forth as well as up and down.
A “mobile-first” (
“responsive”) website, like ours (shameless plug) is designed to look good
on any
screen, regardless of size:
No “expand”. No horizontal scrolling. Just a simple up-and-down.
Which one would YOU rather look at ?
Which one do YOU think
a potential new customer would rather look at when they’re doing a “near me” search
on their smartphone?
We exist to make the most advanced marketing technology available to local small businesses. We'll make this affordable for yours. And you can
GET STARTED TODAY!
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