Why every small business needs a website in 2025

81% of shoppers researched online first before making a purchase, whether in-store or online.

It’s no surprise that shoppers shift into this kind of behavior because they want to check the business’s legitimacy, check for reviews, compare options, get directions, and decide whether it’s worth visiting in person or making a purchase online.

Plus, because scams are too widespread nowadays, particularly online, it’s getting harder and harder to build strong credibility and trust. 

And the best way for you to showcase your brand and build strong credibility is by having a website. And it’s not just that. There are many benefits to why your small business needs a website.

So today, I’ll share with you the benefits of having a website for small businesses. And it’s no longer just a nice-to-have, but it’s a must-have.

12 Benefits of having a website for small business

Most business owners don’t consider having a website because they think that it’s just a fancy way of showcasing their brand online, but it’s not.

So let me share with you how it can take your small business to the next level.

1. Builds Credibility and Trust

Whether you’re doing business online or offline, building trust is highly important. 

No matter how great your products or services are, and even if you offer the cheapest price, if your customers can’t trust you, they won’t do business with you.

Having a website allows you to build your credibility and trust online. Simply put, it acts as an online storefront for your business.

By having an online storefront, your potential customers can experience the ambiance of what it feels like if they are in your physical store.

3. Available 24/7

Having a website means you are no longer limited by your operating hours. Your potential customers can easily access the information that they need such as your contact number, address, operating hours, and menu prices.

Plus, if you have a website that has ecommerce functionality, your customers can place an order for the next day, even when your brick-and-mortar store is already closed. 

3. Better customer service

Have you experienced replying to frequently asked questions most of the time? If yes, then a website can help you with this. 

Because most of your business information is centralized in one place, it allows you to focus on growing your business instead of becoming a customer service rep, answering frequently asked questions. 

4. Online marketing hub for business 

This is where the fun part comes. A website becomes a central hub for all of your online marketing campaigns.  

Here is a list of different digital marketing strategies that you can do with your website:

Blogging 

Blogging is a type of content marketing that allows you to share informative content on your website. And in return, you become a thought leader in the industry where you can earn their trust and make them loyal to your brand. 

If you already have a business website, then having a blog can be easily added to an existing website using CMS (Content Management Systems).

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO allows you to get in front of your potential customers when searching for your products or services on Google. 

So when someone is looking for a solution on Google and your website appears on the first page, then it could translate to more sales.

And while you could still appear on Google by having a Social Media page, it can easily be outranked by a business website.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Marketing

While SEO takes time for you to rank high, PPC or paid ads allow you to get to your customers as fast as possible on Google. 

Just keep in mind that the more customers you want to reach, the more marketing budget you need to spend.

And you can only leverage PPC if you have a website.

Email Marketing

By capturing leads through forms on your website, you can continue to nurture them through emails until they become paying customers. 

Plus, you can promote new products and promos through email too. That way, it makes sure that they won’t miss an update from your brand.

SMM (Social Media Marketing)

While social media platforms are great at getting engagements, they are built to socialize and build relationships, and aren’t great for converting them into paying customers.

So the better approach of using these platforms would be driving traffic to your website.       

5. Offline to online marketing 

Your business website isn’t limited to online marketing alone. In fact, you can also drive traffic from your offline marketing efforts. 

One way to do this is to include your website domain name such as www.yourwebsite.com in every company’s marketing collateral like brochures and calling cards. 

That way, those potential customers who received those collaterals will be aware of the website and can easily find you online.

6. Get quicker referrals

By having a website, your loyal customers can easily refer your business to their family and friends.

And they don’t have to hardly explain what your business offerings are. They can just simply share and promote your domain name to them and that is it.

They can then conveniently check your website on a browser.

7. Customer insights

Another great thing about having a website is getting customer data. You will know which pages they have visited the most and which ones are not. 

Then based on these customer insights, you can strategically improve poor pages to improve conversions.

If you don’t have a website, it’s really challenging to track customer journeys.

8. Market expansion

By having a website, there are no more geographic limitations. You can reach beyond local customers, even globally.

Take Magpainsure.com as an example. It’s a lead generation company that I co-founded. Even though we are based in Roxas City Capiz, we cater to nationwide clients.

It also works well even for local businesses with physical locations. So for example, if you have a hotel located in Manila, potential guests from different provinces can easily find your business online.    

9. Scalability   

A website can grow with the business. Even though you just have a simple website that promotes your brick-and-mortar store, you can add more features as you keep on growing.

So for example, you can add ecommerce functionality so you can sell online without the need to pay more rent for physical space.

10. Sell your products or services online

Today, a lot of opportunities have been opened for business because of the Internet. And because of that, even without having a physical location, you can start a business in the comfort of your home.

Take Amazon as an example. Just last year, the company made $187.8 billion by selling stuff online through its website and mobile app.

11. Share your brand story

People don’t just buy because of how great your products are, or how affordable they are. 

Most of the time, they buy from the brand because they share the same values. 

So for example, I only support businesses that practice sustainability, and if I were able to know that your business does this practice, I’m more likely to support yours than other brands.

And having a website can help your brand story stand out.

12. Monetize your website traffic

Foot traffic is no longer king. Nowadays, user traffic is getting much attention. Because of that, user traffic became a valuable digital commodity.

In fact, that’s how most companies make money online such as Facebook. Because their website generates an astonishing number of user traffic, companies are willing to pay a lot to get their brand out in front of Facebook users.

And while it’s impossible for you to have that kind of user traffic for now, you can still monetize your website by starting blogging for your small business. 

Website vs social media page

“Do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?” I often hear that from small business owners. And the answer is yes.

Having Social Media pages is great, but there are limitations to it that you should know. For example, because you don’t own the platform, it can take down your page anytime you violate the platform’s policy. 

And what if Facebook is down for a couple of hours? How will your business do without it? In fact, it did happen to Facebook before.

Plus, Social Media platforms are too noisy and full of distractions to even notice what your business is offering.

It was called “Social Media” for a reason. It was built to socialize and not focus on converting a sale. 

And did I mention that Social Media pages are free? And Because it’s free, anyone can create one. It’s then even harder to tell which one is legitimate or not.

Unlike having a website, means you are serious about doing business because it’s not free.

So as mentioned above, it’s better to use Social Media to drive traffic to your website.

While Social Media could help, keep in mind it’s not a replacement for your website, but rather a supplement for your overall digital marketing strategies. 

How to get a website for small business

You can get a website by doing it yourself or hiring a designer.

Do it yourself

Hiring a web designer means additional cost to your business expenses. So if you want to save money and have the time, I highly suggest you learn how to make one yourself. 

Starting a website nowadays is much easier and affordable than ever before. You don’t need to learn how to code and it will cost you less than $100 to make one. 

And there are lots of free online tutorials from YouTube that you can easily follow or get a course on learning platforms like Udemy.

Hire a professional

If you value your time and the business demands your full attention, then it’s best to hire a freelancer or an agency to design a website for you.

These professionals are experts in this field, so you may want to leave the website design and development to them and just focus on the business.

Final thoughts

Now that you know the benefits of having a website for your small business, it’s no longer a question of why you need it, but rather when you should start having one.

Would you still rather stick with a Facebook page or start building your website today? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Featured image credit: Michael Burrows