We hear it most weeks, and it is usually true. Plenty of good businesses are built almost entirely on recommendation.
It is still not an argument against having a website, because of what happens next.
Word of mouth ends in a search
Someone recommends you. The person nods, and then, later that evening, looks you up. That is the moment your website exists for.
What they find decides whether the recommendation converts. A current site with real photos and clear information confirms it. Nothing, or something from 2014 with a broken contact form, quietly undoes it. The person who recommended you never finds out.
So the website is not competing with word of mouth. It is finishing it.
What it can take off your desk
The part people underestimate is administrative. A form that collects what you would otherwise ask on the phone. Online booking, so the reservation happens without anyone picking up. An FAQ that answers the same five questions you answer every week.
That is time back, every week, not marketing.
When it is genuinely time to rebuild
Most sites need real work every three to five years. Not because of fashion, though that is part of it. Because browsers, phones and Google all move, and a site that has not been touched falls behind on all three at once.
Two things date a site fastest:
It does not work properly on a phone. More than half your visitors are on one. A site that needs pinching and zooming gets closed.
It is slow. Speed is a ranking factor and, more to the point, people leave.
If you are not sure which category yours is in, send us the address. We will tell you honestly whether it needs replacing or just needs fixing.
Builds websites and the systems behind them for small businesses in Spain and the Netherlands. Writes down the things clients ask twice.
