With businesses are seeing and experiencing the incredible opportunities social media brings in terms of increasing brand awareness, growing a loyal following, and yes, generating sales straight from social media platforms such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. It leaves owners questioning whether a website is even necessary these days.

Short answer: Yes. Even today, you still need a website.

Let me give you 7 reasons why.

Highlights:

A website helps define your personal brand.
Your website provides a home base.
You own your website.
Your website stands the test of time.
Customers expect you to have a website.
Your website helps customers find you (and not your competition!)
Your website helps you attract your IDEAL clients.

01. A Website Helps Define Your Personal Brand.

We are all personal brands. Whether you are an employee or business owner, how you show up in the world defines your personal brand.

As a business, your website creates a space where your potential customers can experience your brand and decide if you are a fit before even contacting you.

It should create a look and feel unique to you. It’s about communicating who you are, what you are about and the experience customers will have working with you. How you communicate that message is what differentiates your business from your competitors because it’s based on your company values and personality.

It’s what separates the professionals versus the hobbyist. Your website is where you establish yourself as a voice of authority and a leader in your space.

02. Your Website Provides A Home Base.

Social media is great but it’s a world of distraction. People rarely go on social media and stay consumed with your content, there’s so much else to see and keep up with.

You are trying to engage and keep the attention of your potential customers. Having a website helps you accomplish that by providing a place where they can explore your world in depth free from the distraction of others.

You are able to strategically guide your visitors along the customer journey helping them to reach a positive buying decision.

03. Your Own Your Website.

You own your website. It’s yours and no one can take it away from you. It’s your real estate. As long as you keep paying for your domain and your hosting, it’s yours. This puts you back in control.

When it comes to other marketing communication channels such as Facebook or Medium or LinkedIn, just to name a few, you have no control over the platform. You don’t get to decide the rules . These companies can and do change on a frequent basis leaving your business vulnerable to how those changes will impact your growth strategy.

Not only that, these platforms could disappear at any time leaving you with no real estate at all. This happened to a lot of companies in 2016 who investing a ton of time in platforms like Meerkat and Blab.

Of course, companies can and should adapt but investing in your own website that will stand the test of time is a sure bet especially when it comes to longevity.

04. Your Website Will Stand The Test Of Time.

Your website can change, grow and adapt with you. The more content you add, the higher it will be ranked in search engines and the easier it will become for potential customers looking for your service.

This is dependent on how much you utilise your website and add content to it but making the assumption you’re ready to use your site to generate sales, this is a longer play that will reap the rewards.

Your website should be with you forever. It’s your hub, your home and the one place you should always be guiding customers back to because it’s only focused on the problems you solve for them.

05. Your Customers Expect You To Have A Website.

The internet has shifted the power to the buyer. The power of choice. With that power, comes great responsibility. Consumers are savvier than ever. 61 % of internet users do research on a product online before making a purchase.

Consumers take the time to research. They want to know what they are buying before they invest a penny. They want to ensure they make the right choice. 47% of consumers view 3-5 pieces of content created by a company before talking to a salesman from that company.

You know this first hand as a consumer.
Your website is a place where you can answer your customer’s objections and solve their problems before, during and after the purchase. It’s a hub and a resource for valuable content that will stand the test of time.

Social media is a great place to find your audience and start building a relationship with them. It’s an important step in the buyer’s journey but that’s the thing, it’s just the first step. As your buyer learns about the problems you solve through the content you share, they start thinking about the next step. Typically that next step is to visit your website.

Why? It’s because this is the place they expect to find ALL the information they need to make an informed buyer’s decision.

It’s a different mindset. When people are on social media, they are on the platform to explore. They are in a social mindset. When people are ready to buy, they are in a transactional mindset. Your goal is to guide them from a social mindset to a transactional one.

06. Your Website Helps Customers Find You Online.

This ties into point number 5. A website helps you get found online.

93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Right now, customers are looking for you. Are you anywhere to be found? For every search engine result that fails to bring up your business, you are turning another potential customer to a competitor.

Now social media platforms do rank well in social media but they are all individual sites will limited content optimisation capabilities. Your website is what brings all of these sites together and creates a hub for all of your content.

It’s a place where you can strategically create and optimise content to answer the questions your customers are searching for. It’s a chance for you to stand out in search engines and ensure when your customers are facing a problem, they find the solution with you.

07. Your Website Helps Your Attract, Engage And Delight Your Ideal Customers.

Your website design and copy creates an experience for your audience.

Your website is the place that you can really hone in on your niche. Through a aesthetically pleasing brand consistent design and cleverly crafted copy, you can really hone in on your niche.

This is an opportunity to attract, engage and delight your ideal buyer, on your terms.

At the same time, your website filters out and repels those who are not a good fit for your business.

Your social media accounts can do this too but not the extent of your website which is a space uniquely designed to represent your company and what YOU bring to the table.

If you take away one thing from this article, I hope it’s this. The answer isn’t to have a website or to have social media platforms. It’s not a this or that question. The answer is both. You should have both.

Your goal is to build interactive relationships with your customers by meeting them where they are at , guiding them to where they need to be and provide an experience that takes them where they want to be.

I hope you found this video valuable. If you did, subscribe for more good vibes or leave a comment below. I’ll see you there! :)