Full Transcript
[0:00]
Welcome to the 805 Web Minute. And today we're talking about the biggest mistake, small businesses on the central coast are making right now. It's a really big one. And honestly, it's the reason why nearly one in three of your potential customers might be walking away before you even get a chance to say hello. It's astonishing, isn't it? A completely avoidable mistake. And that's what we're going to dive into. We're looking at why so many successful, hardworking, local businesses are basically invisible in 2026. They're invisible. And it's not a failure in their service or their product. It's a failure of presence. It's digital. OK, so let's start with the absolute foundation of this whole conversation. It's all about how customers, you know, people right here in our community actually find businesses. Right. And the research is crystal clear on this. The number one stat you need to know is that 81% of people research a business online before they even think about calling or stopping by. 81%. That's not just a trend. Yeah, that's just how things are done now. It's the standard operating procedure. Think about it. If you're looking for, I don't know, a great landscaper on Las Osos, you're not just flipping through a phone book anymore. Of course not. Yeah. You're grabbing your phone. Exactly. You're looking for proof. You're checking out their services. Maybe looking for photos of their work. You're trying to see if they're legit. And if you can't find that, what happens? Well, you move on to the next one instantly. I actually do this just last month. I heard about this amazing little cheese shop. Supposedly near Pismo Beach. Someone told me I had to go. Okay. So I searched for it. And nothing. No website. Just like an old Facebook page that hadn't been updated in what looked like forever. And let me guess, you didn't end up going. No, I went to the big grocery store instead. I just wasn't going to drive 20 minutes on it, maybe. I needed to know they were open what they had. That hesitation cost them a sale. And that exact situation, that's the hard cost we're talking about. The data shows that 31% of consumers,
[2:00]
that's nearly one in three, have specifically decided not to use a small business because it didn't have a website. One in three. Just imagine one out of every three people who are interested in your business, just turning around and walking away. It's a huge leak in the bucket. It's totally unsustainable. For any business in a Royal Grande or SLO, relying on foot traffic or word of mouth, you're missing this massive chunk of the market. So if we know that a third of people are actively turned off by not having a site, what does the rest of the market look like? Where do you stand if you're in that group? Well, that's where it gets even more urgent. The gap is getting wider and wider. Oh, so. Our sources show that in 2026, 73% of small businesses already have a website. Wow, so three out of four. Yep. So if you're in that other 27%, you're not just keeping up. You are falling seriously behind. You're in a shrinking minority and it's not a good place to be. It makes you stand out for all the wrong reasons. It really does. Because when you think about how people find you, I mean, the data is just overwhelming. 97% of people learn about local companies online. 97%. So basically, everyone. Pretty much everyone, yeah. They're searching for plumber near me or best sandwich and Grover Beach. And if you don't have a website that Google can find and show to that person. You don't exist. To them, in that moment, your business does not exist. And the thing is the opportunity is so immediate. It's not like they're planning for next month. Data shows 88% of people who search for a local business on their phone will call or visit within 24 hours. That's incredible. So it's an instinct connection. They search, they find, they act right now. Exactly. Which brings up the perception problem. When a customer can't find you online and they know most of your competitors are online, they don't think, oh, they must be too busy and successful. No, they think something's wrong. That's it. It's a huge red flag. They think maybe you're not a serious business or you're not legitimate or maybe you've even closed down. It's an instant trust deficit. You fail the vetting process before it even starts.
[4:02]
Yep. Which I know leads to the big objection. I can almost hear business owners thinking it. But I have a Facebook page. I post every day. That's the one. And it's such a common and honestly a dangerous trap to fall into. About 21% of small businesses are relying only on social media. And it feels like you have a presence, right? Yeah. You're posting, you're getting likes. It does, but it's a false sense of security. The best analogy we found in the research is this. Having a social media page is like renting a storefront and someone else's mall. OK, I like that. So what's a website then? Your website is owning your own building on your own land. You control everything. And when you rent, the landlord can change the rules whenever they want. Exactly. And the landlords, Facebook, Instagram, they change the rules all the time. They change their algorithm. And suddenly, nobody sees your posts anymore unless you pay up. So all that work you did building your followers, your community, it can just poof, disappear overnight. Your reach can plummet. And it's completely out of your hands. But more importantly, when it comes to finding new customers, Google's search results will prioritize a real dedicated website over a Facebook page every single time. So with social media alone, you're fighting to keep the customers you have while losing the battle for all the new ones. That's the perfect way to put it. Your website is your foundation. It's your digital home base. Social media is just a tool to get people back to your home base. OK, so let's pivot from the risks and talk about the benefits. Let's say a local business owner gets a professional site. What does it actually do for them day to day? It becomes their most effective employee. I mean, truly. It's your 247 salesperson. It starts by building trust, right? We know something like 92% of people check online reviews. They expect to find those plus your hours, your services, all in one professional looking place. Yes, it's the central hub for legitimacy. If a customer has to hunt for that information across three different platforms, you're making them work too hard.
[6:04]
And we already know what happens then. They give up. They give up. But the real game changer is the efficiency. Your website is always on answering the same questions you get asked over and over. What are your hours? What services do you offer? How do I get there? It works while you're sleeping. I love that. It catches those late night searches, like the emergency plumber and San Luis Obispo at 11 p.m. That person is a super motivated customer. And if your site isn't there, clear and easy to use, that lead just evaporates into thin air. You'll never even know you lost it. And all of this leads to the bottom line. The actual money. This isn't just a feel good thing. Not at all. Small businesses with modern professional websites report. And this is significant. A 15 to 50% increase in revenue. 15 to 50% that's transformative. It completely changes the conversation. A website stops being an expense and becomes one of your best investments. An investment that with that kind of lift usually pays for itself in what, four to six months. So the ROI is a no-brainer. Yeah. But we have to talk about why that last 27% are still holding out. Because business owners aren't lazy. They know they should have a site. They do. But they feel trapped between two really bad options. That's the problem. Option one is the traditional agency route. Right. The model where they charge you a huge upfront fee, maybe $5,000 or $10,000 just to build the thing. And that's just the start. Then they get you on the hook for every little change. Oh, you want to update your hours for the holiday? That'll be $150. It's an unpredictable endless expense. So business owners look at that and say, no thanks. So they look at option two. The DIY headache, Wix, Squarespace, all those platforms that look so easy on the commercials. But the real cost isn't the $20 a month. It's your time. It's your weekends. And your evening spent fighting with templates trying to figure out why something looks weird on a phone. And you're a baker or a contractor or a therapist. You're not a web developer. It's no wonder that lack of time and knowledge is one of the biggest roadblocks people site.
[8:04]
Exactly. You're stuck between paying a fortune or spending all your free time on something that's not your actual business. And a bad DIY site can be worse than no site at all. It's like having a messy, unprofessional storefront. It just screams amateur. So that's the core of it. The market was screaming for a solution that gets rid of the huge agency price tag and the DIY headache, something that just works. And that's really the conclusion here. The choice isn't website or no website anymore. It's deciding between owning your digital future or renting it and hoping for the best. And the data is clear. If you're not online, you're just sending customers to your competitors. It really just leaves one final thought for you to chew on. In a few years, are you going to look back at getting a website as the key investment that locked in your growth? Or as the hurdle you were just too busy to deal with while one in three customers once somewhere else? That's the quick tip for today. If you want a professional website without the agency price tag or the DIY headache, here is the better way. At UGRO.Pro, we build it. We manage it, and we handle every update forever all, for just $79 a month. There is zero setup fee, no contract, and it is strictly month to month, so there is zero risk. We're local here in AG. We can have you live in days, not months. Want to see what your site could look like? Go to UGRO.Pro right now, and we'll design three custom mock-ups for your business, completely free, no strings attached. Thanks for listening and keep growing.