Why have a Website?
Why is your Digital Presence important?
Here are a few reasons why you should have a good overall web presence, including a website, but not just a website on its own.
Plus a few tips on how to manage your overall web presence to get the best from it, as it constantly needs attention, just like a shop or shop window.
Ground Rules
The times they are a changin’ – always. Everybody Googles everything or Search GPTs it or CoPilots, Gemini’s or Perplexity’s it, including you. It would have been a good idea to establish a really good web presence ten years ago before AI adoption. But failing that, now is the next best time to address this. This is the foundation for your Marketing activity in the landscape of the late 2020s, if you want to get found in this truly Digital Age.
Turn up
We all go online looking for news, recipes and gifts, suppliers and services, travel, restaurants and takeaways, or when researching information. It used to be important to be in the Yellow or Golden Pages, but that is passé now. We all need to be able to be found online when someone is Googling or looking online for us, our professional services, or our products. People do a search and want answers immediately 24/7/365, so we have to turn up when they search to offer that service. Preferably at the top of the results page, or in AI overviews or in ChatGPT answers. This is down to SEO Search Engine Optimisation. Many people are using voice search now through Google Assistant. Or they use ChatGPT or Gemini to ask questions. With Operators or Agents, your AI tool can take your voice or verbal question and go do the research for you. Now it can even make bookings or set appointments for you.
How we appear, when we do get found, will define what people think of us, if they find us at all and it will dictate their next click or action. That web presence is our shop window, so it needs to be dressed well, to showcase our company, business, products, or professional services. We do need to continually optimise our website design or web presence so that we get found by the very people we want to reach. And conversely we want to avoid getting the people we do not want to serve. It does not happen by chance or just because you have a website and think that you ticked that box – far from it.
We can also save a lot of time for our team by using the web to offer Customer Support, answer questions, and provide FAQs or Guides, like the one, you are reading. Or you can offer a Live Chat, AI Chat Bot or email response. This allows people to ask a question when it suits them. We just have to be open to getting these queries via Live Chat, Email, Snaps, Facebook Messenger, GBP, Whats App, etc.
Potential
This is a huge opportunity for all of us. Now we can market to a wider or to a narrower more specific audience. We can make widgets in Ireland and sell them in Iowa. Design houses in Dublin and sell them to builders in Dubai. Catch crab in Donegal and sell them to fishmongers in Osaka. We can sell online, we can communicate online, and we can do meetings or hold events online. And we can use any marketing medium to send people to our web presence, where they can then engage with us.
Compete on the online High Street
As ever the big retailers and brands or large professional services firms are prolific online. Why? They realise that they need to turn up and they will optimise and advertise online to get found. The glossy magazines get less and less advertising spend, as it goes online now to Google Ads, Linkedin and Facebook advertising etc. But, there is a wonderful opportunity for smaller, niche professional services suppliers to compete with the big guns. The web can be a great equaliser. The big spenders may get found, but the smaller guys can also get found by optimising their presence to their specific target market. This way you can be found organically, avoiding any misguided, ineffective, lazy big spending on Google Ads or Facebook Ads. Let the big guys spend on Google Ads to generate interest in the topic and you just turn up on the same page organically.
Building a web presence
People often think that a website is your web presence, however, it is only a part of it. It is a very important part and is like a big digital business card or shop window. It can be considered your land, a solid foundation, where you build a presence and manage it. Just like with a brick-and-mortar store, you can continually add to it. Unlike Facebook or Amazon where they change the rules and it is more like building your web presence on shifting sands.
Put a stake in the ground and build a website that reflects who you are and adequately showcases your products or professional services. Design something that makes you proud. This is not simply a box-ticking exercise. You would not appear to a client meeting looking shabby or unkempt, so make sure your website wows you. Then find out if it wows your potential clients. How? Just ask a few of them – simple! ‘Does our website answer the typical questions you wanted to ask?‘
It is always a good start to ask your own existing clients what they want to see on your website. Then add these items to the design and development planning stage. Remember, it is an ever-evolving thing, so it is never ever finished, much like that bricks-and-mortar store or office and its shop window, which constantly needs constant attention, cleaning and security.
There’s more…
Just to complicate things a bit or rather, to offer more opportunities, remember that your website is not your total web presence. If you Google your company name, (use an ‘incognito’ window) you will see where you appear and how you look to ‘searchers’. Any instance of your firm appearing needs to be curated so that it reflects well on you and is ‘on brand’. You can create an entity on Facebook with a Company profile page. Do the same on Linkedin. Create a Google Business Profile or Google My Business entry in Google – keep it up to date. Appear in Google’s map stack, which is critical for Local search. Ask for positive reviews in Google or Facebook Reviews. Get recommendations on Linkedin.
Then Google your competitors and see where they are appearing. Can you pick up a few tips from them? You want to get ahead of them in search, to be found at the top of page one in search for key search terms for your specific services. And you want to look like the best option for visitors when you do turn up as an option on Page 1 results. Once you know who you have to compete with, then you will know what you need to do to get ahead of them – again it is simple. Think Red Bull versus Mercedes or Ferrari in F!, small incremental improvements can make all the difference to performance and results. Albeit, you do need a good driver.
Manage that digital presence
Keep curating your website content and your Facebook, Linkedin, and Google pages. Create a great digital version of ‘you’, wherever your audience looks for the products or services you offer. You may have to write useful insightful blog posts or do some guest blogging. You may want to join Facebook or Linkedin Groups which have taken over from Forums. Be in there to answer questions, be helpful and be of service, to show domain authority or expertise in your subject matter – EEAT.
ROI – Return on Investment
Gone are the days when you spend money on advertising and think that half of it should hopefully work. Nowadays, you can see exactly what is working and which advertising spend gets results for you. This is brilliant news, however, it does take some effort to get your head around how to make it work for you. Try everything on a small scale initially, find out what works, record all client engagements and then drill down by investing more into what works well. Nail it, then scale it. Keep testing, because the audience will move around, using new apps, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google Assistant and visiting new sites, etc. You can always outsource this work to someone who knows how to use the various tools. Just like you do with your computers, case management tools and security.
There are tools to manage your spending and show detailed ‘real’ results for that investment. Both Google and Facebook provide their own free tools for you to use. It is important to understand how the tools work, otherwise, Google and Facebook will happily take loads of your money and advertise to the wrong audience. They do want you to get it right, but you do need to understand their clumsy tools.
Marketing in 2026
2026 will see some big changes for us all, some good, some challenging, but as a result of AI technology advancements the changes will be swift. Add to that the effects of any possible recession, supply chain issues, recruitment problems, retention of staff, working remotely and other things. Managing your overall web presence, including your website is how you actually do your Marketing well in to the late 2020s. Will you do it well or will you avoid this as an option? There is a huge opportunity for the businesses who use the tools or engage someone competent to do it for them, by outsourcing. And likewise, the businesses that avoid the challenge are losing out every single day. There may well be less people on the streets, but they are all on the web every day, browsing, shopping and learning. Look at all the delivery trucks passing the shopping centres bringing the online purchases to individual homes.
Why have a website or web presence? It is simply a must, as well as being a wonderful opportunity – what are you making of yours?
10 Reasons our clients decide to get a good website include – based on their feedback:
1. To look more professional online
2. To attract a certain type of client and recruit team members
3. To discourage certain types of client
4. To promote or launch a new service or product
5. To increase sales
6. To reduce time doing things currently being done by staff by using the website to answer questions
7. To improve SEO Search Engine Optimisation and rank higher in Google search results
8. To get a new or fresher look or design
9. To get a website that is mobile responsive or responsive in voice activated search
10. To make a statement about a new direction or a takeover or other big decision.
People do not buy something that does not solve a problem they have right now. So when you are talking to potential buyers in your specific target market, you need to explicitly connect the dots for them between their problem and your solution, professional service or product. A problem that they know they have AND they do actively want to solve, and ‘How what you sell can solve that problem for them’.
Questions? Send them to us. By all means, share this article if it was of value to you. What will you do as a result of reading this?
Is your website your best Sales Tool – It should be
Alright, listen up. You think your sales team is the most important part of your business? Well, that’s great, and they’re doing their best, no doubt. But your website is silently working for you 24/7. It’s like your most dedicated salesperson and let’s be honest, usually less whiney too.
Your website is the face of your business online. It’s where potential customers go to learn about you, your services, and why they should be investing in you. So, if your website is lacking in any respect, then you’re throwing away serious business opportunities.
Here’s why your website needs to be the Johnny Sexton of your sales team:
It’s always on the pitch.
Unlike your salespeople, who need their beauty sleep (and their weekends off), your website is there for customers 365 days a year. No holidays, no sick days, no leaving early because they’ve got a dentist appointment. It’s there, ready to answer questions and convert those lookers into loyal customers.
It can reach more people than your entire sales team combined and in much less time.
Unless your sales team has some kind of teleportation superpower (and if they do, we need to talk), they can only be in one place at a time. Your website, on the other hand, can be seen by anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection. That’s a lot of potential customers you might be missing out on if your website isn’t up to snuff. It will even filter out the less ideal clients or at least it can do. It will find the good prospects whenever they are looking for what you offer.
It can personalise the sales pitch.
Sure, your salespeople can try to tailor their pitch to each customer. But let’s be honest, they’re probably going to have their go-to spiel that they rattle off on autopilot. Your website, however, can use clever bits of technology to personalise the experience for each visitor. Imagine that, a website that remembers your preferences and shows you exactly what you’re looking for! It’s like having a salesperson who actually listens to you. And who answers questions exactly as you would do.
It closes the deal.
Once a customer is interested, your website can take them through the sales funnel all by itself. They can learn more about your services, compare fees and even make a purchase without ever having to speak to a single salesperson. That’s the kind of efficiency we can all get behind, right?
So, there you have it. Your website is more than just a digital brochure, it is a vital member of your sales team. Potentially the best member. If you’re not investing in your website, you’re giving your competitors a serious edge. The smart ones are watching what you are doing online and then outdoing you.
Now, I’m not saying you should ditch your sales team altogether. They’re still great for building relationships and closing those big deals. But think of your website as your ultimate wingman, the one who never lets you down and always brings his A-game. If the web presence can bring the interested parties, your sales team can close the deal.
If you’re looking to turn your website into a sales-generating machine, the team at MEANit Web Design & SEO can help. We specialise in creating websites that look great, convert visitors, and help you achieve your business goals.
So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch today and let’s get your website working for you!
