An Easy Way for Small Businesses to Make More Money

Based on extensive research done by Weebly, I believe that a most often overlooked, easy way for small businesses to make more money and grow their businesses is to simply build a website.

Afterall, who doesn’t have a website nowadays?  Don’t all businesses have websites?

Actually… shockingly – No.

I remember when I was still in high school in the mid-90’s, nobody had emails, cellphones, and the concept of finding information on the internet was still pretty foreign.  We had libraries (remember, actual physical books?) and they were the first and a lot of times, the only way to do proper research.

Fast forward 15 to 20 years, everything is online, and a physical book is almost a thing of the past.  Google has come to dominate the internet in less than 20 years (it was created in 1996), and everything is now online.

That’s what I thought. But is it?

Many People Still Don’t Have Websites

Weebly recently produced an infographic about website presence in the United States as of 2013.  The infographic (see below) basically highlights how many people (mainly small organizations such as businesses and non-profits) still don’t have websites, and the growth potential of website builders.

I found the statistics very interesting, and was a bit shocked at the same time. Here are just a few highlights:

• 58% of businesses do not have a website
• 56% of consumers do not trust a business that does not have a website
• 40% of non-profit organizations do not have a website
• 75% of consumers don’t start websites due to lack of confidence that they can create a high quality website
• 50% who start, struggle to finish as they don’t have a proper plan / roadmap
• 67% of people who use Weebly to build websites want to either do business online, or grow their existing business to get more customers

Can People Trust Your Business?

Based on Weebly’s infographic and research, it’s hard to believe that the majority of small businesses still do not have a website presence, especially when website builders such as Weebly makes it pretty easy to put a website together (see our full review of Weebly and how user friendly it is here).

This is an especially important point when the research suggests that 56% of consumers do not trust a business that does not have a website.

So if you are a small business owner that still don’t have a website, this is a massive opportunity for you to quickly grow your business.  This is what I would consider as a “low hanging fruit” where you have an opportunity to quickly grow your business without committing huge amounts of effort and investment, by building a website to give your business an online presence, and much needed credibility.

Website Builders Can Help You

The idea of building a website for your business can be daunting. Much like me trying to assemble a car engine from scratch (believe me when I say it’s going to be a disaster!). It’s foreign, it’s scary, and seems impossible without hiring a service provider who may charge thousands of dollars to build and maintain a simple website.

Fortunately, there are a number of really good, solid and simple to use website builders that can help you quickly, and easily (yes it’s true!) whip up a website of your own (more below).

It really isn’t too difficult to insert text, images of your products or services, some promotional videos (if you have any), a contact form so people can email you, your address and map. You can do all that within a few hours if you just keep it simple.

Don’t try to build the world’s most beautiful and complex website. You don’t need that. If you’re a coffee shop, you just need your address, contact number, some beautiful and professional images of your shop, coffee, smiling customers having a good time, and a map to so people can find you. It’s really that simple. Anything more than that will give you a headache, and discourage you from finishing your website.

Which Website Builder Can Help?

In my own hands on experiences, I’d recommend checking out the following website builders and I really believe that you can create a website with any one of them in a short period of time, as they are designed to help non-technical people build websites.

Also, they won’t charge your thousands of dollars, as they’re very affordable especially for a small business (ranging from free to less than $25 per month).

• Weebly
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Jimdo

The key thing is to get started. Get creative if you really don’t have time to build a simple website. The website builders I listed above already provide you with the basic tools to build a website. Try hiring a high school student on Craigslist to help you. Kids nowadays are whizzes at this sort of stuff, and most of them don’t ask for a whole lot of money. Get creative in leveraging “cheaper” resources.

All of the website builders I listed above are drag and drop builders – meaning you literally drag and drop pictures, text, slideshows, maps, etc into the website. You do not need to know any codes to complete your website – this is why it is so affordable to build a website for your business.

This is one of the easiest ways for you to grow your business, expand online and reach new audiences, and potentially make more money.  Not to mention, as per the research by Weebly, most consumers don’t trust businesses that do not have a website.

It’s true, because I do find a business less trustworthy or “shady” if they don’t have a website.  Whether this is fair or not, it doesn’t really matter.  In this day and age, having a website builds credibility, and this trend will only grow in the coming years.

Here’s Weebly’s Infographic:

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