Your boss just told you that you need to find a solution to a problem, what is the first thing that you do? Well if you’re like 98% of other Americans, you Google it! You then sift through the top results and visit company websites to research if they can provide a solution and how reputable they are. Visitors typically spend 3 seconds before deciding if the company is a viable option before they choose to leave the website or learn more. This scenario probably has you thinking:
- Does my company show up when prospects are looking for solutions that I provide?
- Does my website communicate my company brand, values and offerings?
- Does my website make it easy to prospects to gain the information they need and contact us?
Lucky for you there are marketing services that can assist you in reaching the goal to confidently say YES!
Let’s Get You Found:
It’s great to have a beautiful website but it’s even better if it’s a beautiful workhorse of a website. Your website should serve as your 24/7/365 sales person that is constantly attracting new prospects, educating them and encouraging them to get more information. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is when your website’s on page and off page content has been optimized for search engines to easily be able to crawl and organize your information so it can be shown to searchers when they are looking for your services. There are many factors that go in to optimizing a site such as:
- Confirming that keywords are used throughout the site and that there is sufficient content supporting those keywords in a natural and fluid manner
- Developing titles and alt tags for images
- Creating a hierarchy of page titles based on importance
- Developing page links and referral site links that link back to your website
- Mobile friendliness
- Frequently updated content
- Keeping up with Google’s ever changing algorithms and best practices
- And so much more!
SEO success does take time to build and is a long term goal that must be consistently managed to progress and not loose traction. A great benefit is that the investment that you put in SEO has a long lasting and building return on investment (ROI).
On the other hand there is Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), a Google Adwords paid advertising service that helps you compete to be shown on the first page of Google search results for keywords and keywords strings (keyword ex. websites vs. keyword string ex. website design in Houston Texas). You can go after an endless list of keywords related to your business to help attract prospects to your website. This is a service that can be turned on and off at any time but it does not have any long lasting ROI. PPC is a great tool to use in conjunction with your SEO efforts to help your company be shown until your SEO is strong enough to stand on its own and even then can still be used to win very competitive keywords or your competitor branded keywords.
Stand Out & Rise Above:
The people that visit your site are usually gathering information for solutions to solve a problem for their company. They want to make the best selection as they will be judged by management and their peers for the company that they choose to advocate for. Your website plays a vital role in the impression that you project to stand out and rise above your competition. Keep in mind that a prospect’s impression of your company is equally important as reality because it is the reality that they perceive to be true. It is important that the immediate impression someone gets when visiting your site is simple, positive and unique. Once they decide that you are a viable solution they will move forward to gather more information to see if you fit their needs. A marketing agency can work with you to develop your brand, company values and mission statement that differentiates you from your competition (ex. dedicated to safety, lowest price, best customer service, innovative solutions, or industry leader). The agency can then develop a website design based upon your values and key differentiators to make sure that your visitors immediately know what you stand for and what you offer.
K.I.S.S:
There is one thing that I learned in business school that I will never forget: K.I.S.S. which stands for keep it simple stupid! There is no need to overly complicate and communicate things. You should strive to make it as easy as possible for your prospect to educate themselves and move forward in the sales process. This same principle should be applied to your website design. A prospect should be able to enter your website’s front door and easily navigate to the information that they need and contact you for details. User experience seems to be a huge buzz word right now and rightfully so, as it should be a key aspect of your website’s design. An agency can work with you to map how different prospects navigate through your website and minimize the number of clicks it takes for them to access what they are looking for. They can also add design elements such as online FRQ forms or chat messages to easily start a conversation.
As you can see there is many considerations that go into the design of a high performing website. Websites can no longer be just a digital flyer with your logo, offerings and contact info. Your prospects want and deserve more than just that. Your website is a vital marketing tool that must be well designed and maintained to help attract, educate and inspire your prospects to do business with your company.
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