Gone are the days when local businesses did not need websites since they operated locally and within a given community. The reality of today’s business world, big and small, is that competition is stiff and getting stiffer. Therefore, to stay relevant and successful, you must adapt to the realities of the day.
As at May 2024, the NYCEDC (New York City Economic Development Corporation) reported that there were over 180,000 businesses in the city, with thousands more being added yearly across the boroughs. With these kind of numbers, any business that is not doing everything it can to put itself out there is sure to fail within a short time.
In this guide, I will be explaining to small business owners what they need to know about owning a website. Not just owning one for the sake of it, but owning one that is feature-rich and functional.
What is a Website?
While this may look like a question with an obvious answer, many small business owners have not sat down to ask and answer this question. There was a time when a website was more or less like a calling card. This is not the same today.
In today’s commercial and operational reality, a website is much more – it is an extension of the company or organization. If you are a baker with a storefront along 14th Street, there is a limited number of customers who can get to you, no matter how good your pastries are.
Why Web Design is Necessary?
A well-designed website can bring more customers to you than you can physically attract to your store. Once businesses understood this, we began to see a rise in online orders and delivery services.
So, while your store is your operational base, it cannot compete with a well design website, backed by effective local SEO strategies, as a sales point. With the massive increase in online shopping and orders, you can make more sales from your website than you can from your physical location.
For proper context and clarity, as far back as 2020, the food delivery app industry was said to have made a revenue of about $26.5 billion. While this may be attributed to the COVID-19 lockdown, reports show that over 52% of Americans still prefer to order their meals online.
Your website is your sales outlet. In fact, it can easily become your main and most profitable sales outlet.
How Do I Get a Website?
This is the question that anyone who runs any type of commercial endeavour should be asking. Here’s the truth, it is very easy to get a website. In fact, you do not necessarily need anyone to help you because you can get one within the hour.
However, to be sure that you actually know what you are asking for, you need to know what you need the website for. That is, you need to know what the website will be capable of.
If you just want to be able to say, “we have a website”, then what you need is not more than a mere calling card, which you can get easily. However, if you are thinking of a website like we already explained above – something that can bring in massive sales to your venture, then you need expert help.
If you already have an idea of what you want from your website, then you are half-way there. If however, like many, you have no idea (because you really don’t know what’s possible and what’s not), then you need to consult an expert who understands both your industry and the digital world.
Talking to an expert can provide a lot of insight and help you have a better expectation. Once you know what is possible, then you can begin to channel your energy and resources into finding the web designer to handle this project for you.
How to Choose a Web Designer?
This is an important part of the process. More than just designing a website for you, this person or agency will help you with important parts that make up the whole. This will include choosing a domain name and your hosting service.
As a guide, any web designer you choose should know the web design essentials and include:
- Have a good knowledge of SEO
- Be well-rounded in digital marketing
- Be good with the popular CMS and platforms (WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce etc.)
All of the above are in addition to their core expertise – visual design, UX/UI, and basic front-end development. You do not want someone who will just design a website and leave you hanging.
What to Do Now?
With all of the above in mind, we will conclude by giving you a few tips that can help you find the right help. To get the best website design in New York, you have to sift through a lot of bodies. This is why you must have a good idea of what you want to achieve.
So, take the following steps to find a website design agency to work with:
- Ask for referrals from your contacts
- If you don’t get any referrals, search online
- From your online search result, shortlist and begin to check out online reviews and feedback
- From those shortlisted after going through reviews and feedback, schedule a consultation
- Speak to the shortlisted agencies and try to gauge how much they know about your industry and what solutions the website they will design will offer
- Ask for their portfolio to see what they’ve done and determine if they are ideal for your needs.
- Find out what other services they offer that can be of use to you
- Compare services offered and cost to determine which company offers the best value
- Find out how much support is offered and for how long this support will last.
- Be sure to find out any recurrent costs that they may be charging for some of the services offered
While the above is not an exhaustive list, it at least provides a guide that you can work with. It’s important that you pay close attention and feel each company out. Your gut can play a big role here too. So, step out, begin the process, trust your gut and get started putting your business on the World Wide Web.
Final Thoughts
The web design agency you choose should be able to help you setup, test, run and also provide support for the website. In fact, most agencies today offer a bouquet of services that include digital marketing services to help put your website out there.
Remember that it’s not just enough to have a website. Your website must be efficiently designed and then properly marketed so it can reach your target audience.
