“Do I need a website? My business appears on Anglie’s List, Yelp, or Healthgrades”. We get this question a lot. Let’s take a detailed look at this question.
User Generated Content (UGC)
Anglie’s List, Yelp, and Healthgrades are websites which are packed with user generated content. That’s content where anyone at all can share a review, without having to provide much information about themselves. These are not professional reviews, these are reviews from everyday people from the most part. The risk with this content is that it lends itself to people airing personal vendettas and complaints far more often than someone complimenting a business. Without a website users will find one these sites, and that’s all they will see about your business even when they search specifically for your business. Every small business must take advantage of the SEO benefits of having a website.
Sabotage from your Competitors
There are those out there who seize the opportunity on these review sites to submit bogus reviews. Those reviews are often submitted to encourage consumers to go elsewhere, but it is well known technique that competitors will employ given the opportunity.
Delivering Your Message
On Angie’s List, Yelp, and Healthgrades you are able provide only your basic business information – no detailed mission statement explaining your vision, no video introduction, no team biographies. The net effect of that is the reviews become the focal point. Your ability to communicate what your business is all about is limited. Your own website is the polar opposite – you control the message, and you explain (in as much detail as you like) what differentiates your business from the competition.
The take away here is that by having a website for your business, you take control of the message that is delivered. You present the message you want to deliver to prospective customers, clients, and patients.
