Your Worst Investment Could Be Your Website
It's time to take a step back and evaluate your website. Is it helping or hurting you? If you're not getting the results that you want, then your website needs some serious work. Check this quick guide to assess if your current site has everything it needs to have.
What Is A Website And Why You Need One
A website is a collection of pages that can be viewed on the internet. They are often used for personal or business purposes, but some exist just as informational resources, like Wikipedia. Additionally, a website's content is called “web content” and consists primarily of text, images, videos, and other multimedia elements.
For a business, a website usually plays an essential tool in its marketing strategy. It functions as the company's online “shop window.” It can also include information like its history, products or services offered, contact details, and many others. Thus, a business must have a good website as it’s usually the first point of contact leading to a phone call, sales meeting, or simply more information.
Other benefits of the website include:
- Consumers choose to do business with companies they can trust. Thus a website is an easy way for you to grow your customer base and keep in touch with them.
- It's a great way to extend your company’s reach and position it as an industry expert.
- It can be used for two-way interaction with customers, suppliers, partners, or other stakeholders in the business enterprise.
- Your website is the first place where prospects look when researching which products or services to buy.
Keep these benefits of websites in mind when designing yours, and you're off to a great starting point.
Why Your Website Is Holding You Back
You might think that having a website is good enough. Sometimes, though, it could be the reason why you're not getting new customers. This problem comes from:
- Your website is outdated or hard to navigate.
- You're missing social media marketing on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These can be powerful tools for reaching potential customers and engaging with them within their comfort zone.
- It loads very slowly or not at all
- It's hard to find contact information
- The website design doesn't resonate with your target market, especially in a niche industry. For example, an eco-conscious company may want a site with images of greenery and starts on a green page or uses light blue colors for navigation.
- It is non-existent on the internet.
- The website is not mobile-friendly. This is because most internet traffic comes from smartphones or tablets in today's world, and most people use their phones as their primary way to go online.
How To Create An Engaging, Interactive Site
If you want to grow your customer base, it's time to rethink your website design and get a professional company that understands what is needed in today's business world… if it isn't already too late!
Your website needs:
- Images of your products or services on offer (no stock photos)
- Videos to bring your site alive and show people what you do in action. If the business is a local one, videos of some of your happy customers talking about their experience would be very powerful too!
- Testimonials from satisfied clients or even awards that your company has won; are great for convincing potential visitors to trust you.
- Social media buttons with links to your business's Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages. This will make it easy for people to follow you on social media so they can get updated.
- Clear contact information, including a clickable email address in the header.
Remember to make your company's website stand out from the competition and convert visitors into contacts. Thus, ensure that its four main components—an adequate number of web pages, up-to-date content, sound design, and functionality (navigation)—are present.
As a solution, you may want to get your website redesigned by professionals. This step can make it easy for potential customers to find you on Google search results pages that have been optimized.
Conclusion
The world of digital marketing is constantly changing, and the way that users interact with websites has changed drastically. If your website isn't up to date, it could be hurting you to generate revenue for your business. So get started on designing a website that will generate sales by following these tips!
