Getting a business website designed well can be compared to laying plans for a new building whereby, in both endeavors, form follows function. The look of a website should be primarily based upon its intended purpose and not the other way around.
Technically, you could build a wine cellar on the top story of your house made out of glass. It would look beautiful and the light in the room would be phenomenal. You now have the nicest wine cellar ever, fantastic.
Except, you actually just built a greenhouse, and your wine is going to be decimated. Likewise, a website can’t ONLY look beautiful and not do its job.
Four Things You Need Your Website to Do
1. Load Fast
I mean really fast. Like, two weeks ago fast.
2. Capacity to Appear in Search Engine Results
High search engine rankings are arguably more important than beauty; after all, your efforts to beautify your site are useless if no one can find it on Google. The key to augmenting your rankings is Search Engine Optimization, a collection of techniques aimed at increasing your search engine visibility:
- Integrate specific keywords relevant to your products, services, and niche—this notifies Google to link to your business website when users search for these keywords. For example:
- Custom Cabinetry in Sacramento, CA
- General Contractor in Sacramento, CA
- Bathroom Remodel in Sacramento, CA
- Pour your resources into building original and relevant content.
3. Keep Visitors on Your Site
Once you have a solid traffic plan, content marketing is what makes the difference when getting your business to win on the Web, with original, useful and shareable content your key to attracting an audience and getting leads.
Consider the following facts:
- More than 300 million Internet users read blogs and blog posts each month. Does your business website have a blog?
- Ads are impotent next to high quality content, with 73 percent of users preferring blogs and helpful articles to ads.
- Shared content increases your likelihood of a sale by up to 500 percent.
To engage in content marketing, start by:
- Blogging – a consistent stream of fresh, unique, and useful content not only helps consumers, it also increases your search engine visibility. Content is a crucial factor in your Google ranking.
- Think of the most commonly asked questions about your products, services and industry, and blog about them. Think of how your products and services can be the solution to your customers’ problems, and blog about that too.
4. Get You Leads
The Internet succeeds where other marketing platforms failed, offering the best tools for effective targeted marketing. Thanks to the Web, you can bid goodbye to wasteful, hit-and-miss prospecting techniques.
That said, if your website isn’t doing what it’s designed to do (e.g. generate leads, raise awareness, and acquire sales), it may be time to take a look at what needs improvement.
- Use the right calls-to-action to spur your customers into taking desirable actions on your site, whether it’s “Subscribe Now,” “Download for Free,” or “Request a Free Quote.”
- Blogging helps you collect inbound links and leverage the traffic on other relevant sites. You want to focus on shareable content, while also working with your local community to spread word of your business.
Ready to change your website for the better? Contact us today.
