Top Design Firms’1 2020 survey found that 28% of small businesses still don’t have a website! But what if your company has a site and it’s not functioning properly? Well, you’re not alone! So, read on and see how this article sheds light on the subject.
Let’s face it; everyone’s encountered a business website that has wreaked havoc on their eyes and on their search intentions. Fortunately, these top seven must-have tools and strategies will help ensure your website attracts targeted leads, obtains your desired ROI, and ultimately performs efficiently.
So, to ensure your website functions as a high-performance lead-generating tool, here are our recommended must-haves. Jump to them now, or keep reading!
- Provide content that educates and connects
- Have blogs, definitely blogs!
- Include clear brand messaging
- Incorporate SEO best practices
- Make your website responsive
- Provide CTA’s and fantastic offers
- Integrate high-quality links
1. Bottom Line: If your business doesn’t provide relevant digital marketing content and information, then you don’t have a real website!
The truth is, when people search for products and services online, they’re looking for information that speaks to their needs. So, if you don’t have content information that matches their search intentions, you don’t have a site that functions for you properly. And, you’re losing money; no one likes that! However, a fully optimized website will have content marketing that offers relevant information, piques interests, meets a need, and provides solutions.
You’ll want content that connects and educates potential customers.
Once your business understands customer needs and becomes familiar with their problems, your site can then offer content that connects to their search efforts and helps resolve issues. Let your content be educational while also answering their online questions. In this, you’ll position yourself as the expert, and your product or service becomes the solution.
Have a website that has solutions-oriented content.
Furthermore, once prospects learn that you offer solutions to their problems, they’re more likely to return to your site, make purchases, and share with others. They’ll also become more inclined to move through the sales funnel because you’ve positioned yourself as a trusted resource rather than a salesperson.
Content remains the KING of online information sharing.
The beauty of content marketing is that it will never limit your efforts to just information on your web pages. Site videos, whitepapers, research, case studies, downloadable materials, eBooks, testimonials, and blogs all count as site content. So, be sure to leverage every platform that’s relevant to your industry product and service provisions. Offering multiple mediums with resource information can help make even deeper connections with online visitors and broaden your marketing reach.
GET YOUR FREE WEBSITE ANALYSIS
2. Every award-winning website must have blogs and insightful industry resource information.
If you want a high-performing website that will generate quality leads, blogs are definitely a must-have. However, you should publish blogs consistently and make sure the content is at a minimum of 500 words. Again, resource blog posts automatically contribute towards your site’s offerings of relevant and informative content.
Similar to landing pages, blogs can create win-win scenarios for companies and potential customers. For instance, blogs allow you to connect with site visitors. And when you provide calls-to-action in blogs, prospects get to purchase products/services and download or request vital information. Also, your business can build its database by collecting basic information from site visitors.
Overall, blogs help build trust with your targeted audience while also fostering relationships with clients and customers. Most importantly, be sure to place your blog content on relevant social media platforms. This strategy can significantly extend your marketing reach.
3. Does your site include clear messaging that enhances your brand and consistently drives traffic?
Clear messaging is another vital must-have for a top-functioning website. Solid messaging also means your target audience won’t need to shuffle through lots of pages to find crucial information or understand your “who,” “what,” and “why.”
Therefore, keep your messaging information simple, concise, and get straight to the point so you won’t lose people on page one. We’ve learned that when website messaging includes informational stories, guidance, and easy-to-follow instructions, visitors tend to stay online longer and explore it further.
As a best practice, all your brand messaging should have a corporate tagline or mission that you can convey on each page. At the same time, your company website needs to answer those obvious or common questions immediately. Such questions include:
- What do we do as a company and why?
- To whom do we provide products/services?
- How can they quickly obtain our products/services?
- Why should clients or customers choose our business over others?
4. In order for prospects and qualified leads to find your company online, you must incorporate SEO best practices.
Having a beautiful website is always nice. Yet, what’s the point in having an aesthetically pleasing site if the right people can’t find it online? Businesses that learn to incorporate SEO (search engine optimization) practices within their websites are the ones that get found. Applying SEO strategies and mechanics enable you to optimize each web page and drive the right kind of traffic to your site.
Strategic SEO tools and tactics include industry keywords, content updates, social media publications, Google web crawls, overall site user experience, and much more. However, the bottom line is this – utilizing SEO best practices on your business website can improve lead generation and help your site get found.
Discover what every business owner must understand before developing a lead generation strategy!
5. Online visitors will leave a site after three to five seconds, so make sure it’s responsive and user-centered.
Create the ultimate UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) for online visitors by having a responsive, mobile-friendly website design. In other words, visitors should have an overall pleasant online experiential and visual encounter with your website and brand. And regardless of which digital device they use, be it a Smartphone, laptop, or tablet, your website should respond and adjust appropriately to provide the same experience and functional ease.
On the other hand, people will quickly click off of a website that –
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- Isn’t responsive
- Takes too long to load, or
- Poses inconvenient challenges when potential customers are ready to act or need to access information
Even before the pandemic, an unprecedented number of people began utilizing their mobile devices to make online connections and search for information. Due to this uptick in search volumes, Google recently made additional updates to its algorithms. And the significance of the change was that web optimization and responsiveness would no longer be optional perks; instead, they’re now required for businesses to market online.
Check with Google now to see if your site is currently mobile-friendly.
6. If your website doesn’t have intriguing calls-to-action or fantastic offers, you could be losing potential revenues.
The only way to build your marketing database, generate high-quality leads, and see real revenue returns for your business is to have CTAs. Companies should consistently offer online visitors something to purchase or download. In other words, you need to have at least one call-to-action to engage visitors and make a sale.
These days, most people are willing to provide basic contact information in exchange for obtaining something of value. So, make sure your CTA offers add value and provide solutions that people need. Even before making a sale, you can give visitors valuable resource materials, such as –
- Downloadable eBooks
- Checklists
- Tips & Guides, or
- Quality forms of educational and informative content that is useful or adds value to customers
These forms of soft offers help peak interest, keep visitors coming back, and build trust as you position your business as a reliable resource for them. So, don’t make your CTAs complicated; instead, keep them straightforward, clear, simple, and easy to access.
7. Sites must have integrity and position businesses as industry leaders.
Therefore, businesses should integrate quality links that provide visitors with additional resource information. For example, when you incorporate external and internal links on your site, your company generates two automatic benefits. First, you’re helping the site perform efficiently and effectively as it pertains to online search engine results. And second, you allow prospects to quickly access what they’re searching for during their visit.
External Links
One significant point about including high-quality external links on web pages and in blogs is they assist in building company credibility. Linking your pages to organizational industry sources and renowned associations can groom your business into a trusted guide. As a result, links ultimately help position your business as an industry resource leader.
Internal Links
When your business utilizes internal links, they ultimately help drive more traffic to specific web pages. And an increase in page views from site visitors is always a good thing! Increased views mean your leading service or product pages are moving up in rank position due to clicks through online searches. Therefore, it’s essential that your internal links go to relevant and popular pages that always “give the people what they want.”
It’s possible to begin generating an improved number of leads with a high-performing website.
BUILDINGBLOCKS is your trusted partner, and we’re ready to help! We want you to “win” in your online marketing endeavors. But in reality, many of the strategies and tools we’ve discussed in this article will require time to process before you see actual results. Yet, each aspect is vital to accomplishing the aim of having a website that will perform efficiently for your business.
When you’re ready to discuss your website and learn to incorporate these seven must-haves, give us a call at 281-203-0529. You’re also free to connect with us online at your convenience. We look forward to hearing from you!
Click below to see how well your current website is functioning!
Reference:
- Top Design Firms – “Online Presence Management Tips for Small Businesses” Retrieved — July 12, 2021
