Pros and Cons of Having a Website
Pro: You can show up higher on search engines like Google
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the name of the game, and having your own website, with a blog, may be the best way to do it. A 2020 Sistrix study shows over 28% of people searching on Google click the very first link, with over half choosing from among the first three. You want to be as high up as possible for searches relevant to your business, whether that’s “Thai food” or “maxillofacial surgeon” or “interior design firm.”
Con: It’s one more thing to worry about
It’s definitely more work to have a website than it is not to have one! Ideally, you should be blogging to establish yourself as a leader or expert in your field, and you’ll want to make sure that images, addresses, and other information on your site are always current. That can be a lot of extra work on top of running your business.
…but, Pro: You’ve always got your own presence
A website is an insurance policy against other digital hiccups down the line. If you’re on a social platform that experiences an outage or shuts down, or it becomes temporarily impossible for people to visit your physical location, you’ll still have an online presence. Using your website, you can increase your search rankings, build an email list, and even set up an online store. This keeps you independent and in control of your customer relationships.
Con: It can take a while to see results
For the first few months of having a website and adding content to it, it can feel like it isn’t working. You’re measuring traffic with a service like Google Analytics, all your customers are still saying they found you on Yelp, you’re toiling away on blog posts, and it feels like maybe it wasn’t worth the effort. That period can be dispiriting. But: you’re in this for the long haul. Once you have a website and some quality information on it, you have that forever (as long as you keep paying for the domain and hosting)! All the work you do during that quiet period will help build your online presence, increase your search rankings, and continue to be useful down the road. That’s the beauty of the internet: the how-to blog post you write today could lead to regular customers starting a year from now, without you having to do any additional work.
Pro: A website can take advantage of the other hard work you’ve done already
If you’ve already spent a long time hustling for reviews on TripAdvisor or Yelp or Amazon, getting a website doesn’t mean saying goodbye to those things. You can use your website to provide social proof to potential customers: proudly announce that you’re rated over 4.5 stars with hundreds of reviews! Or reach out to your best clients for testimonials: knowing another reputable business engaged your services makes other companies and customers more likely to choose you.
The Verdict
You (probably) need a website. Even if you’re on the fence, go buy a domain name. Head over to a registrar like GoDaddy, where they’re typically around ten bucks a year, and use a service like Squarespace to build a single-page website as a placeholder. Then come back and reread this post when you’re ready to keep growing your business.
