Does your Jersey business need a website? 6 signs to check

The 6 signs in the video

The video opens with the question most new business owners ask: do you need a website for your Jersey business? A social page can be enough, for a while. These six signs help you tell when that while is up.

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   Step 1: Start with your customers

   0:18

   How do new customers check you out?

   Ask your next few customers how they found you, and whether they looked you up before they got in touch. Some will say Google, some a friend, some a post they saw. The answers tell you where you need to be seen.

   If nearly all your work comes from people who already know you, a website matters less. If you want customers who have never heard of you, it matters more, because they can only judge you by what they find online.

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   Step 2: Check what they find

   0:30

   Can they see your services and contact details?

   Search your business name, then your main service plus “Jersey”, on your phone, the way a customer would. Can you see what you do, your opening hours and a number you can tap? If the top result is an old directory listing or nothing at all, that’s what customers see too.

   Your Google Business Profile, which is free, matters here as well. Google says (opens in a new tab) local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence takes in things like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. Our video on getting onto Google Maps shows how to set the profile up.

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   Step 3: Think beyond social

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   A website gives your business its own home.

   A social page lives on someone else’s platform, under that platform’s rules. Facebook’s own terms say it can suspend or permanently disable accounts it finds have clearly, seriously or repeatedly broken its rules. A website on a domain in your name stays where you put it.

   Keep the social pages; they’re a good place to show recent work. Link them to the website, so the address on your van, your cards and your Google profile always leads somewhere you control. Our .je or .co.uk guide helps you choose that address.

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   Step 4: Make trust easy

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   Show real work, reviews and clear details.

   Before someone lets you into their home or pays a deposit, they want proof you’re real. Photos of your own jobs, a few customer reviews, your name and the area you cover do more than any slogan. A website keeps them in one place, in the order a customer needs them.

   Clear details matter for the law too. Businesses established in Jersey that handle personal data, such as the names and numbers a contact form collects, must register with the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner (opens in a new tab) unless an exemption applies. Our guide to what a Jersey business website has to show covers the rest.

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   Step 5: Know when to wait

   1:06

   Fully booked or testing an idea? You can wait.

   A website isn’t compulsory. If referrals already fill your diary, you sell only through a marketplace, or you’re still finding out whether an idea will sell, it can wait. A complete Google Business Profile can carry a small business while you decide.

   If you’re testing an idea, Jersey Business (opens in a new tab) gives free, independent and confidential advice to businesses in Jersey. Our guide to starting a business in Jersey shows where a website fits in the set-up steps.

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   Step 6: Build when ready

   1:18

   Start with the smallest site that does the job.

   When you want people who don’t know you to find you, start small. One clear homepage that says what you do and where, works on a phone and makes it easy to get in touch covers what a new customer needs first. Pages for each service, a gallery and reviews can follow.

   Our video on what makes a good homepage shows what to put on that first page, and our checklist of what to prepare covers the words, photos and details to gather before a build starts.

Common questions

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