As a business owner, you may not be familiar with Application Programming Interface (API) and its benefits in website development but your tech guy does. 

WE are generous to help you understand APIs for your small business better. 

Consider API as the glue that joins, otherwise, disconnected and siloed apps – your CRMs, marketing, accounting, and communication platforms – for delivering custom features that your website may offer to engage online visitors more and serve your customers better. 

For example, there is a higher probability of bouncing off if a random coaching center website requires a separate sign-up. Instead, if the user is prompted to view recorded videos using their existing Gmail account or Facebook account, nearly 80% of consumers are more likely to continue for a personalized experience. 

This is a simple working example of API-centric website development.  

Best API Use Cases for Small Businesses 

The following section is designed from a business owner’s perspective and not from the point of view of website developers as seen from popular search results. 

The section deals with various small business categories and the need for offering the best features on their websites using APIs. 

1. APIs for Coaching Centers or Personal Trainer Websites

Some of the best personal trainer apps are likely using APIs to make all of this work. For example, 

• a user verification API like Telesign could verify that you own the phone number you provided at sign-up. 
• a communication API like Vonage could arrange customizable live video sessions and even notify your clients about the schedules, gym offers, and more. 
• a payment API like Stripe or PayPal can process payments online from clients. 
• another communication API like SendGrid can send emails of payment receipts, festive discounts, and offers at your gym. 

Here is the list of the best APIs for integrating with your personal trainer or gym websites. Click here to access it. 

The same can be replicated for Coaching center websites using APIs with the following additions

• YouTube API can be used to access recorded classes 
• WizIQ Virtual Classroom API can be used to host live classes for multiple users, taking part, posting, and handling study course content, test evaluations and more. 

Here is another list of top APIs for Coaching center websites. Click here to get it.

2. APIs for Clinical & Medical Center Websites

Popular clinic & medical center websites & app is likely using APIs to make all of this work. For example, 

• Patient data APIs like Human API or Apple Health Records can overall patient health reports and report to the doctor, caretaker, or family members. 
• Content platform APIs like Infermedica or Mayo Clinic offer genuine and authentic health tips based on disease symptoms. It can be integrated with any website to increase its user traffic.  
• Telehealth or communication APIs like Bluestream can arrange virtual appointments. 
• Drug-based APIs like DrugBank can provide drug information, allergies, etc. for patient & doctor use.  
• Content API like Recipe-Food-Nutrition gives your users access to thousands of healthy recipes. 
• a payment API like Stripe or PayPal can process payments online from clients. 
• another communication API like SendGrid can send emails of payment receipts, new treatment facilities, and more. 

3. APIs for Your Boutique Store or Bakery Websites

Popular small business eCommerce websites and mobile apps are most likely using APIs to make all of this work. For example, 

• Storefront API like Shopify makes it possible for customers to view products and collections, add products to a cart, and check out.
• Social media share APIs will enable users to share webpage content easily across social media channels, and instant messaging platforms. 
• point-of-sale APIs like Square help in multiple payment methods without worrying about hardware integrations. It is highly useful for boutique store and bakery that majorly depends on offline operations but require an online presence for increased sales. 
• a communication API like SendGrid can send emails of payment receipts, new discounts and offers, order delivery tracking, and more. 

Here is a list of essential APIs for eCommerce websites, typically for boutique stores or bakery businesses. Click here to view it. 

4. APIs for Your Consultancy Websites

You can be a tax & accounting advisor, legal consultant, life coach, nutrition consultant, or any other business consultant – but all your website requires are attention-grabbing and interactive tools that engage with your visitors for better chances of conversion. For example, 

• A career coach website may connect to careeronestop.org API and get a wide range of career, employment, and education data. Further, they can process and deliver these data in your own style to keep their online visitors engaged. 
• Live chat APIs can be included to offer live customer support for lead generation. 

How APIs for Small Business Websites Cut Costs & Improve Efficiency? 

Uber would not have built a viable mobile application, let alone grow its business model if it was not for APIs.

Lower website development cost 

• instead of wasting time in data collection or designing user-centric features from scratch, APIs can connect you to remote databases and you only need to invest in value-addition. 
• offer multiple and integrated payment options.

Engage your wbsite visitors 

• building features out of various APIs allows better personalization of content for your website visitors. 
• let users connect with their existing social media accounts while accessing content from your website. 

Where to Find APIs for Websites and Mobile Applications? 

There are Amazons or Alibabas for APIs too. You can find third-party APIs on popular marketplaces like RapidAPI.com, APIs.guru, and more. Here developers can submit their APIs, use listed APIs, and monitor them. 

On the other hand, API directories like ProgrammableWeb or Google API explorer only allow you to discover new APIs and do nothing more.

Alternatively, smallbusinessweb.co has a working knowledge of 13+ in web development and the team here can help you pick the most useful APIs for your specific website requirement. 

Taking your Small Business Online – API Consulting & Delivery

It should be clear by now that there are plenty of API options available to enhance your business websites and stand out from the competition and serve your online visitors better. 

The only roadblock that lies ahead in taking your small business online is identifying the important features required in your website and choosing the right API among thousands in number. 

We can help in this regard. 

At smallbusinessweb.co, we offer comprehensive small business web development services to upgrade your offline business to online through website design, development, and digital marketing strategies. 

Our expert small business web development team can help you pick among thousands of Application Programming Interfaces (API) that can help you cut development costs and improve website efficiency. 

We used terms like website, web app, and mobile app casually while discussing the best API use cases above but these are different. We missed mentioning how SDKs are different from APIs. We did not offer our insights on the performance of third-party APIs or custom-built APIs.

If you noticed it, we thank you for the time to read the post. Call us and we will be happy to help you understand APIs better for your small business websites. 

You can even request a free quote and we’ll try our best to offer competitive packages within your budget and tiered payment options linked to the project stages. 

Explore our affordable web development packages for small business, designed to boost your online presence and drive growth

Do feel free to comment down below if you have any questions!