A business website can help to increase sales, build trust with potential buyers, add legitimacy and increase your reach.

Small business owners often claim that they don’t need a website because they can't sell their product online. However, people are increasingly researching businesses and looking for reviews before they decide to hire tradesmen and use driving schools or hair salons.

Four reasons why you need a website:

1. Increase your sales

A business website enables you to showcase your products or services to a large audience at very low cost. If your website attracts visitors, you will automatically increase your leads and ultimately sales.

2. Build trust with potential buyers

A website is a powerful medium that enables a business to build trust with potential buyers. A small business can display galleries of previous work, customer testimonials and even case studies featuring customer success stories. This powerful marketing channel can transform a cold lead into a cast iron sale.

3. Customer testimonials/reviews

Testimonials can be prominently displayed on your business website and offer immediate assurance about your product/service to any potential customer. The success of review sites like Yelp and Qype illustrate the value that buyers place on personalised, honest reviews.

4. Local Search

Increasing Internet savvy and smart-phone popularity has yielded an explosion in local search. Increasingly, people are searching for ‘hair salon in Clapham’, ‘restaurant in Manchester’ and ‘builder in Leeds’. Businesses with a website have a significant edge over their offline competitors and as the growth of local search continues the gap between businesses with a website and those who remain stubbornly offline will continue to grow.