Why is having a website important in 2023? There are many reasons to have a website for your business or cause. We’ll list a few factors, but the main reason is to give you the ability to control your own story.
The website offers an online presence to control your narrative and stay ahead of your competitors. It also serves as the foundation of your online marketing efforts. If you have a business or cause you’re trying to support, your customers or supporters will expect a website in 2023.
Websites can lend credibility to your work and show proof of your social actions. And there are also many different ways to create a website. Creating a website in 2023 is much easier and you have many options.
In 2022, there were over 1 billion websites in total, not even 20% of which were listed as active sites. Depending on your source, about 250,000 web pages are created every day. So it is increasingly important that you have a website. Especially since search engines have made it an easy task to find anything on the internet.
The top five reasons why you should build a website in 2023 are:
You are not limited to creating a website on a hosting server. You can use social media platforms or other solutions to bring your presence online. We recommend using a hosted server, but we will explain the advantages and disadvantages of these options.
1. Control the narrative
Your website can clearly describe your cause or business. When you do this with your brand and domain name, you can control how your story is presented to the community. While you can’t control how others express their opinion, you can provide a clear and concise statement about your cause or business. You can use testimonials or post reviews to give your visitors more confidence in the authenticity and authority of our website.
“I use Facebook to showcase my art and express my Native American culture. This is how I tell my story.” – Michael Cloud Butler, Master Carpenter.
Updating your site and posting content that supports your business/cause will help keep your message fresh and consistent. If you use social media, also include links to your official social media sites.
Your website allows you to present the facts of your story. Keep your story informative, interesting, and engaging, and you’ll find an audience that wants more.
2. Compete with your industry rivals
If your competitor is building a store on site, you will also be building a store for the competition. The same goes for websites. Your competition is likely online. If not, then your website will give you an edge. Also, in 2023, your customers expect you to have a website.
A website is a great way to let the world know about your cause. You can create your message to reply to competing messages. Your website gives you the potential to outperform your competition and present your case better than anyone else.
“It is important for a company to have a website in 2023 as more people are looking for online help or ways to save time and money while accomplishing goals and tasks.
A company can promote itself through a website, blog, video or social media to attract audience members and customers. Being informative, honest, and highlighting your own experiences tells potential customers that the company understands their problems and is an expert in addressing and solving pain points.
For example, as a nurse legal consultant, I assist attorneys in medical cases by sifting through endless pages of medical records and turning medical jargon into easy-to-understand reports. “
Jennifer Dyson
Legal Nurse Consultant, Freelance Health Writer and CEO
Sky Nurse Consulting, LLC
This also applies to businesses where you sell products or services. Consumers often read reviews and look for the best option that meets their goals and budget. With proper development, a website can ensure that you are found by a search engine.
3. Engage/interact with your viewers
Engaging or interacting with your viewers or customers can take many forms. Discussions in blogs, support center websites, conferences, or simple online meetings are examples of engagement. Social media can also provide a positive way to interact with videos and daily comments.
While many interactions may start off negatively, your goal is to turn the situation into an opportunity to showcase your abilities. This is most often the case in technical support cases or during problem resolution negotiations.
Providing solutions is rewarding, and even more so if your relationship is available to the public. Your website can convey that interaction and prove that you are a good, trusted source of information or answers.
Engaging with your customers or viewers proves to search engines like Google that you care about your customers. It also provides proof that your content is authentic and informative. This can be the difference that moves you in search engine rankings.
4. Control and use your data
When building a website in 2023, you can also track your website data and then use it to make decisions about your business. tools such as Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics Allows you to track your website traffic to properly manage your efforts to achieve your business goals.
These applications allow you to take data and transform it into visual representations, providing an easier way to identify areas of concern. They can also clearly indicate your successes.
By analyzing your data, you can decide how to improve your marketing, products and messaging. Your customer data and their feedback is valuable data that you can use to gain valuable insights for your business. This information allows you to learn more about your customers in order to better serve them.
5. ROI and social proof
A business is often not a stand-alone venture. You may have investors closely monitoring your progress. This can make ROI – return on investment – a top priority to track. Your website can help demonstrate that you are making the right decisions.
You can visibly demonstrate to your investors that you are succeeding by using search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to rank well in search engines. A well-designed website also demonstrates this by showing how your website visitors can easily learn about and purchase your products or services.
Your website can also serve as evidence of your social actions and behavior. This information can often influence purchasing decisions and prove your credibility. For creatives such as artists or photographers, websites often showcase their work, showcasing their skills.
“As an artist, websites help me showcase my work and prove not only my worth as an artist, but my contribution to my community.” – Sylvia Neri-Strickland, artist and former chair of the Virginia Commission on Human Rights.
Different ways to create a website
After all this talk about why you should build a website, you should now be ready to roll up your sleeves and build one. Before you jump into action, let’s give you some ideas on how you can get your business or lead online.
You can create a website in many ways. The two easiest ways to start defining them are to define where your site will live. This is usually done by using a hosting service or platform.
A hosting service like InMotion Hosting provides a server where your website can be developed. It can also be used to store your email. The main advantages of using a hosting service are: 1) you have the freedom to develop it as you want, and 2) you immediately use the domain name of your choice.
Control over your domain name also extends to your email addresses, giving it a more professional look. For example, instead of “[email protected]“would be”[email protected].”
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp limit your development options and usually don’t allow unique domain names.
However, these same platforms can provide simple solutions if you don’t mind leaving interface and design decisions behind. You can customize it for your brand, but your functionality will be limited.
If you are a business owner and want to create a website in 2023 that can grow with your needs, then our recommendation is to find a hosting service and decide on a software or service to create your website. This can often take a little more time and require some study and planning, but it will be a worthwhile investment once it’s done.
Creating a website with a hosting service gives you complete control over the process and allows you to scale up or even downsize depending on your business needs.
When you create a website in 2023, you will find that you have taken the initiative to control your story to compete with anyone in your industry. You may also contact your customers/customers/viewers to provide information, products or services that may improve their lives.
Use your website data to make good business decisions and show that it’s worth the investment. Choose a way to build your website presence and then prove that your work is authentic and profitable for years to come.
