Extend your social identity to enable your business digitally

The last decade has seen a tremendous shift towards social media by small and medium businesses (SMBs). In October 2015, social media platforms such as Facebook reported around 2 million SMB subscriptions in India with over 2.4 billion interactions being generated between businesses and people. 

Creating a social media business profile is free and advertising on social media helps drive impressive business results as that is where all the customers already are. Social media ads reach the exact target audience small businesses want to reach for less money and great returns.

Many small business owners prefer to forgo the effort of building a website and simply rely on what social media platforms offer at no cost. But is a social media presence really enough?

These owners have perhaps been driving their businesses traditionally through word-of-mouth publicity or believe that they can get all their customers through social media channels. Many business owners also think that building a website is complicated and expensive.

While it is true that a social media business profile is a good way for a business to engage with its user base, it does have some limitations:

• A business clearly shows value when prospective customers like its social media business profile and indicate their interest in the on-goings of the business. However, when customers grow weary of seeing the business’s posts and do not engage, the business needs to promote posts or begin advertising to engage audiences.

• While a business’s social media profile may have its voice and the photos may showcase its products and services; it still doesn’t convey the complete brand experience unlike a dedicated website.

• Valuable information isn’t readily available when a user lands on a social media profile. Many potential customers want to learn more about the business and the value it brings to them. A dedicated website enables a business to customise, and acts as an information hub where interested customers can go for all kinds of information.

• While a social media profile page can be found via a search engine, it doesn’t provide the comprehensive SEO control of a dedicated website. A website enables a business to tailor its content to exact phrases and keywords its potential customers are searching for.

• While social media is free and offers great brand exposure, to succeed in the digital world, SMBs require the presence of a dedicated website. Many entrepreneurs who understand this need are using services like free web hosting that come with website page builders.

In time, the website could also be used to increase the geographical spread. The website would be a great way to provide value added customer services to customers and keep them coming back. 

However, for a small business launching a full-fledged professional website isn’t always realistic. Thus, it is best to start small and look at an easy and economical option to create one, by using a website builder tool.

Website builders are available for the non-technical users that provide easy-to-use templates allowing them to point and click their way to a new website. For example, a tool like Pagevamp can help SMBs customise the look, feel, and content of their website using a simple, user-friendly editor, providing an easy and fast way to create a professional website that amplifies business presence online.

Website builders make it easy to create stunning websites quickly with many of them offering simple drag and drop options. Many also provide the option of purchasing a domain through them, as well as a business email account.

A .com domain is very popular with a vast majority of commercial websites as it plays a pivotal role in determining how websites are ranked by search engines. The .com domain name is also a globally accepted first choice that stands out in the minds of customers.

Choosing the right website building platform is another crucial aspect in getting the brand online. Some other features, at no cost or as part of a package include customised domain name, free hosting, social media sync, custom CSS, custom content, third party app integration, e-commerce, branding, blogs, visual media, search engine optimisation, mobile device optimisation, website performance reporting, customer support, and more. A business can sign up for a monthly package and start building its website. 

Even if a business has a big social media presence, it needs a brand website, which it can control on its own. Social media is a great way to bring traffic to the brand website and it’s a great way to share content from the website. The most effective way to do business online is to have a website and social media presence that work together to spread the brand message and foster relationships with the broadest customer audience. Website builders can really help SMBs create a free or low-cost web presence for their businesses today.