A report published by YouGov and Fasthosts in 2018 found that a whopping 1.7 million sole traders in the UK do not currently have a website to support their business, accounting for almost 50% of all sole traders operating in the UK. While a number of these businesses do have an online presence through social media, the statistics go to show that there is still a huge quantity of UK business owners who do not see the value in having their own online space that stands apart from the likes of Facebook and Twitter.
While your company having an online social media presence is a fantastic idea and brings with it a number of marketing and customer service benefits, we do urge all business owners to consider all of the missed opportunities that comes with leaving your online presence there.
Security
Security is something that should always be in the forefront of every business owner’s mind, which is one of the first huge advantages of running your own business website: it puts you in charge of security and gives you unparalleled control over the way you collect and store customer data. With the GDPR in effect it’s more important than ever for business owners to know exactly how their EU customer data is being used, which is why a CMS like WordPress, with robust security and hundreds of trusted plugin authors, is such a powerful option.
Ownership
How many times have you become frustrated after Facebook or Instagram made a change to their algorithm and you find your reach dropping inexplicably? Though your content might be at exactly the same standard it was before, a small change by the platform owners can have a disastrous impact on those maintaining a business page.
One of the benefits of running your own website is the full control you retain at all times. There’s no worry about creating content that is more suited to an algorithm that your own clients, and certainly no danger that the platform you’ve begun to rely on so heavily may remove features or services that you were dependant on.
Professionalism
Of course, it’s entirely possible to run a professional Facebook page and provide high levels of customer service via a dedicated Twitter account (there are thousands of businesses who do just this and do it very well) but there is a sense of innate trust and professionalism that comes with a high-quality business website. It’s a direct link to your customers that you remain in control of from the moment it’s launched and can serve as the perfect online business hub to link together all of your other online marketing efforts, including your social media.
What Next?
One of the common reasons business owners give for not having a business site is that they’re too overwhelmed by choice to know where to start. This is an extremely understandable point, given the myriad options for everything from the CMS, the theme, functionality, aesthetic – it can certainly feel overwhelming at times. That’s why it can be so helpful to speak to professionals who can help guide you in the right direction and breathe life into a website that will speak to your customers, both existing and potential.
Our team of WordPress experts can help you with any queries you have about all things business website-related so don’t hesitate to get in touch and discuss your business’ requirements today.
