Getting ready to launch your startup? Everything’s checked off the list — name, purpose, target audience, branding, website —
Wait a second, hold up. You don’t have a website for your startup yet?
You may not think that you need a site for your particular type of business. You may think that you’ll have plenty of customers without needing to establish an online presence. You may even think that running a website will take away too much time from actually growing your business.
Well, here are five important reasons why you’re wrong — and why you really do need a website for your startup.
Your company website will:
- Boost your credibility
- Help you interact with your audience
- Enhance customer service
- Establish your position, and ultimately,
- Grow your business
Let’s take a look at these reasons in more depth.
Boost Your Credibility
Launching a startup requires that you craft an image of your business even before it begins to operate. To make your company a success, you have to create interest and drive traffic right out of the gate.
A website for your startup is a big part of succeeding in that endeavor, because your website will boost your image and your credibility right from the very beginning — even before your customers start to stream in.
A branded website isn’t just a matter of attracting new customers, however. It’s even a question of retaining the customers that have already given you a chance. More than half of internet users polled stated that they will not trust a business that doesn’t have a website. Even if they’re interested in buying from you, if they can’t find information about your startup on your official site, it very well might scare them off.
More and more people rely on the internet as their primary source of information. Refusing to create at least a basic informational site negates that source, leaving your potential customers in the dark as to the purpose and reputation of your company.
On the other hand, designing a well-thought-out, user-friendly website gives your startup credibility and even helps in building your company branding efforts.
Interact With Your Audience
By the same token, your startup website not only provides necessary information to your potential clients, it also creates new opportunities for you to interact with potential customers.
Basically, websites are excellent marketing tools. But marketing isn’t just a matter of advertising — often, it’s a question of paying attention to the individual.
Your startup website should include information about you as the owner and creator of the company, as well as the story of how the company came to be. It’s an excellent chance to put a face to the name, and craft an emotional connection with your target demographic.
And your site, in terms of communication, should definitely be a two-way street. “Contact Us” pages, FAQs, forums, and guest books are all ways to show your visitors that you’re invested in them and want their input.
Face to face in a brick and mortar store is the ideal way to interact with a customer, of course — but your website will enable hundreds or even thousands more of those interactions, and facilitate continued communication, which is the best way to lead to a growing customer base.
Enhance Customer Service
And as you grow that customer base, the key that becomes ever more important is customer service.
Your startup website also creates an excellent platform to elevate your customer service game, retain existing customers, draw in new ones, and address any complaints or concerns in a way that will work out well for everyone involved.
We mentioned FAQs and forums already. Providing a searchable database of commonly asked questions is an excellent way to ensure that the majority of your customers are able to find answers they’re looking for. An intuitive “Contact Us” form or a company email that is regularly attended to can give them the personal touch they’re looking for.
Another consideration is embedding a chatbot for customer service, giving them the option to speak to someone immediately to help them with their issues.
And sometimes, what customers are really in search of is simply knowledge. Providing well-written and informative content, product photos, and clear information on every page of your website, and ensuring that it is user-friendly and easy to navigate, may help your customer to answer any questions they had without even needing to resort to a customer service representative.
Ultimately, your startup website can be an excellent customer service tool.
Establish Your Position
These days, every business is seeking to establish itself as an authority in their field. You want consumers to come to you first, rather than the competition.
The best way to establish your position is to provide authoritative, educational content to fill a need that your target audience has. And the best way to deliver that content is through your official website.
Whether it’s through the main pages on your site or through a company blog, you can leverage SEO and the needs of your customers to drive traffic to the site and, in the end, to your business.
Along with driving traffic and boosting your position on search engines, a website for your startup allows you to control the narrative of who and what your company is about. Almost 80% of internet users look for reviews of companies before they do business with them — and believe the reviews they find. Starting your official website allows you to showcase positive reviews from satisfied customers, and gives interested consumers a validated source to go to.
Grow Your Business
The final — and most fundamental — reason why you need a website for your startup is that it’s the most important key in growing your business.
Think about it. Your official company website:
- Gives your customers a source of reliable information about your company
- Showcases products and services
- Allows you to provide excellent customer service
- Helps you interact with your target audience
- Is a fantastic marketing opportunity, with branding on every page
- Can establish you as an authority in the field
- Allows you to introduce new services and products
- Can be leveraged for SEO, ensuring that you’re easy to find
With all of those factors, is it any wonder that experts strongly suggest that every new startup develop a website as part of their business strategy?
