Before I explain the importance of a website or web page in 2024, let me tell you a little story.
My friend Pablo, had left his CV in a graphic design company, the company had to choose only 2 people, and Pablo was chosen as the second person, when he went to ask why they have chosen him as second and not first? They answered him like this: “We chose the other applicant as number 1, because first he had all his credentials and his examples of his work on a website and second he looked professional and thanks to this the company could see all his portfolio easily from his website”. On the other hand, all Paul had was just a YouTube link.
And that’s when Paul realized that he needed a website and that he wasn’t going to be successful without one in today’s world and that not having a website made him look less professional and he wouldn’t be successful today without one, he almost lost that job altogether.
The arrival of the pandemic means that the world has moved rapidly online
With the Covid 19 pandemic, the world has moved rapidly online and it is not slowing down. Now more than ever there has been a massive increase in individuals and companies moving their business to the online space, which is where most consumers spend their time day to day, especially because of Covid. From online shopping to online learning, finding a lawn care company, finding a barber, finding places to eat, you name it, most of it is done online now more than ever and if you don’t believe me, here are some facts about it:
40% of consumers won’t trust a professional or business without a website
There’s an old saying: You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
If you Google someone and their website doesn’t come up first, what will you think?
You’ll probably lose some confidence in that business. You’ll say, “Wow, this is 2023 and they don’t even have a website.”
Having a website for yourself or your business helps you build credibility and relationships that other platforms cannot. For example, you can put your company history on your website or maybe your whole team and the things they love or a whole section about your business and your mission and the things that are really important to you, those kinds of relationship building tools can’t happen on other platforms.
Building relationships with your visitors, they expand your chances of conversions.
97% of consumers go online to find local businesses, and to find open jobs:
Every day 3.6 billion searches are made on Google, so even if a small portion of that pertains to your services or your business and you don’t have a website, then you’re missing 100% of that opportunity.
You’re missing out on 75% of potential hiring or sales opportunities by not having a website, so even if you’re available from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday, which is less than 25 percent of your time, a website can market you 24/7/365 days a year.
A study by CAPITAL ONE found that only 56% of small businesses have a website, which means that, if you have a website for yourself or your business today, then you are already beating 44% of your potential competition.
And there’s more: in 2018 people spent 50 million fewer hours on Facebook pages than the year before, so even if you have a Facebook page for yourself or your business you still need a website.
With a website you can take control of your marketing strategy.
Social media and e-commerce platforms are both great tools to make in your marketing strategy, but they are not yours. What if Facebook shuts down tomorrow, or perhaps more likely their algorithm will change and your content will end up somewhere not visible.
Is the place you have on e-commerce platforms really yours?
The same could be said for e-commerce stores, all of these places are constantly making changes and are changing to what’s best for them, not what’s best for you. So relying on those platforms as a big part of your marketing strategy can be dangerous because if they make changes, you may have to adapt instantly.
Having your website can take that unreality out of the equation. You can use social media for what it’s good for, but then you can get people back to your website, a controlled environment where you can decide what happens and what’s going to happen, maybe you want visitors to learn more about your business and contact you or maybe you just want them to see a product or service that you have to offer, you can do all of those things on your website. So no matter what you’re trying to accomplish, your website can help you do it.
If you want to be in control of your marketing strategy it is a very good idea to have a website. It will help you in many ways that you can’t achieve with social media and marketplaces and the other tools that exist online.
Will websites still be tools for selling in 2024?
Of course websites will be tools to sell in 2024, although sometimes depending on the activity you are undertaking you will need a SALES FUNNEL (or sales funnel) to acquire more sales, but, even so, the website has a capital importance, because your prospects or your customers will want to know about your business every time and for that you have to have your website.
Case examples:
Check Campus, a group of UDEP graduates and university students whose mission is to accompany students in Peru with online courses through their website. They use Hostgator to host their website.
Accesorios Mary, a women’s accessory shop that puts their services online through their website to reach a wide range of prospects. They also use Hostgator to host their website.
Websites are of paramount importance for those who do coaching, for example Martha Laborin put her coaching services online through her website in order to reach more people in need of coaching sessions. She uses Hostgator to host her website.
Marco Tulio Gómez, Physical Education Teacher, is taking advantage of the opportunity that technology gives him, creating his website to reach more prospects in his niche….
Laseloboost, a space that offers digital gaming services, they manage their services from their websites.
