It’s the digital era and it is extremely important for your business to have an online presence. Having your own website, an E-commerce platform, business profiles on social media or even a combination of all of them is a big step towards building your online presence. It doesn’t matter if your business is not an online one; your customers expect to see you online. If you’re not there, the opportunity of increasing your customer base and getting the word out is lost.

Try to remember the last time you were looking for a new service or product.

Let’s take a look at some examples:

1) I was travelling and wanted to find a new place for lunch. Hence, I turned on my GPS, went to Google Maps and searched for restaurants near me. I decided on a restaurant after checking out the reviews and pictures posted online.

2) My mom’s birthday is coming and I’m unable to find time to look for a present due to my odd working hours and other responsibilities. So, I started looking for gift ideas online and placed an order to be delivered at my workplace right in time for her birthday.

3) I’m looking for Mascarpone cream cheese to make a cheesecake. I tried a few supermarkets locally and couldn’t find it. So I inquire in some Facebook groups asking people if they have any idea on where I can get it. I get some good suggestions which enabled me to purchase the cream cheese without any hassles.

4) I had seen an actress sporting a certain haircut and I wanted the exact same one done. I didn’t want to walk in to a random salon and hope for the best. Neither did I trust my friends’ my opinion since the most they do is get their hair trimmed. Therefore, I searched for best beauty parlours in my area and went through their website and Instagram profile. I decided on a salon after checking out their best photos. And I was a happy customer!

All the situations above show just how much we depend on digital platforms before opting for any product or service. Your potential customers should be able to find you at a click of a button.

You need to keep in mind that the customers you are losing out on are not just the local ones. The local crowd probably knows the in and out of the area. They are likely to have references and can manage quite efficiently on their own.

However, there are tourists, travelers, expats and people who have migrated from other regions of the country who have absolutely no idea about your business. Perhaps, even locals who have never required your services in the past. Your aim should be to target everyone (Of course your target market depends on the kind of business you own).

Now, you might say that you already have a Facebook page and don’t really need a website. This is where you’re wrong. Let me explain.

Your online presence begins and revolves around your company website.

As per my research, most businesses in Tanzania especially local ones have a listing on Zoom Tanzania or Advertising Dar which are amazing businesses and are doing some great work.

While I absolutely recommend listing your business on classified sites, this should certainly NOT be the only and main existence of your business on the internet. In the present era, just having directory listings are insufficient for your business.

Submitting your business to directories or other classified sites is what we call “Off-page SEO” activities. These are done to get backlinks to your main website and are an additional way of getting more customers know about your company.

Let’s do a few searches on Google Tanzania.

Example 1:

In the above scenario, there isn’t even one business which has a website. Hence the top spots on page 1 of Google are occupied by classified sites. The only local business which is likely to get the most inquiries is Zafa Hardware and Sanitary Ltd because of its Google Maps listing.

Example 2:

In the above example, the top two results for “Pest Control Dar es Salaam” are from classified sites. However, the third listing is a local business Pest Guard which has its own website plus a Google Maps listing. This business also has Google reviews with an average of 4.7 rating.

Hence in spite of ranking on number 3 of Google, this business is likely to get the most leads and inquiries.

When users are searching for a specific product or service online, they may come across your ad listing. Although they might have seen your advertisement, the actual website that benefits from the traffic received is the 3^rd party website and not your own. Imagine if your ad is really popular and bringing in a lot of traffic, all the link juice goes to someone else’s site and not yours. This is why I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having your own website for your business.

In addition to this, a website helps you brand yourself better and showcase why your business stands out from the rest. There is absolutely no restriction on the amount of content you wish to provide as well.

Conclusion

The bottom line is: the sooner you start with online marketing the better. Get going before your competitors do.

Setting up a website is an investment you shall never regret.