What Makes A Good Website?
October 2, 2012
It’s 2012 and every business needs a website. No excuses: if you don’t have one, you need one, period. However, it’s no longer black and white, and just having a website is not enough. In reality, few businesses with websites actually use them to their full potential as lead and revenue generation machines. Most companies settle for an insignificant return-on-investment from their website.
One of the biggest obstacles for many business owners is a lack of understanding how to fully leverage the digital assets available at their disposal. A small business’s website is often its most powerful tool, and yet, it regularly remains an under-utilized asset. So how do we fix that? Well, we can start by looking at the basics of a good website.
An effective website works 24/7 to increase your customer base and bottom line. From our extensive experience, we have concluded that successful websites are always able to answer the following 4 questions that a potential customer may have regarding your business:
Who are you?
What do you do?
Why should I care?
How do I take action? (spend $$$!)
The more quality content you focus on addressing these questions, the more quality and convertible traffic your website will produce.
How you think about your website may affect your willingness to invest your time and money into this crucial aspect of your business.
Do you think of your website as a receptionist?
Or is your website a sales rep?
Or maybe, do you view your website as a new location or branch?
Just as you will need to invest in the success of any of the above, it is only with your investment in your website that it will live up to its full potential.
Does your website feel like a brochure?
Any business leader, whether a local plumber or the CEO of a multinational corporation, has numerous options to advertise their business to potential and existing customers. Choosing the right advertising medium is particularly important since all businesses are looking to get the most bang for their advertising buck. The desired result is to get the highest possible return on investment, and a proper website can offer that return when executed well.
Unfortunately, many website strategies result in a simple brochure style website. This style is becoming less and less effective as consumers become more adept web users. In less than a minute, a potential customer can use Google search to find the service and product they are looking for, check out the reputation of the businesses they find on Yelp, and even ask their friends on Facebook for suggestions. Your website needs to facilitate this process and become a central station for your brand online. You can also offer some product- or service-specific tools to create immediate value for the potential client.
In short, your website creates an image of your company for the world to view. Make sure this image is one that is relevant, compelling, and most importantly, correct. Use your website as a canvas to make your business come alive. Need help? Give us a call, we are always happy to give a free consultation!
