As a web developer, I of course want to say yes to this but the truth is it depends. The correct solution is not the same for every business, this is why I like to talk with each prospective client to learn about their business before making a recommendation.
Let’s look at a couple of examples here.
A local automotive shop called needing some print designs done for invoices, and they wanted to update their logo to have some t-shirts printed for their employees. While on the phone the owner asked me if he needed a website, and my question was “How busy are you guys?” He told me they were booked 3 months out and had been like that for years. So he has a steady flow of incoming business and a very long track record of that not changing. So to spend a few grand on a website probably wouldn’t have much impact, I did recommend a Google My Business Profile and we set that up for him.
The next example was a restaurant that had a website, but it looked like something straight out of 1996, it scored so poorly on Google Page Insights that Google wouldn’t even show it in search results so they had absolutely no organic traffic, their website literally got 12 visits the month before we started to sort it all out. As far as their Google My Business Profile they were #34 of 36 restaurants in the area so they were not hitting any home runs here either. This is a situation where we can have a huge positive impact on their business. So we whipped them up a website that scored awesomely on Google Page Insights, had some keyword rich copywriting which made Google happy and had a very easy-to-read menu for their customers. Then we fixed their GMB.
Fast forward 30 days, they had gotten 1300 visits to their website, their GMB has shot up to 12th position and things were looking pretty good. In the next 30, they were at 2900 visits to the website and they moved into the 2nd position on google. 2 months after these changes they had a 62% increase in dine-in revenue and an 81% increase in call-in orders.
So Do You Need A Website?
The honest answer is I don’t know, but maybe, give us a call and we can have a chat and if I don’t think a website will help your business grow then I’m not going to recommend it.
Why would I turn away business? It’s simple, obviously, it’s the right thing to do but there is also a value to it, even if you don’t need a website you probably need something else that we do and I would rather handle your menu printing, your flyers, or social media graphic design for the next 20 years rather than make a quick buck off a website and have you pissed off 6 months down the road that it didn’t yield results and you will never do business with me again. So it’s all about that long-term relationship so I have to get results for you.