Small business owners need an online presence. The options for this presence range from free to $10,000. But what really works?
Many website designer companies are only concerned with selling to the small business owner and don’t worry about how the website will serve the small business’ bottom line. If the owner is happy, then the marketing company is paid. They receive a great review.
But what happens after can make or break a small business. What often happens after a small business either creates a website or updates it, is – nothing. No leads. No sales. No visits to the website.
It doesn’t need to be this way.
The Website is Not Smart Phone or 3G Friendly
Many of the free websites are free because people won’t pay for them. They are useless as marketing tools.
The software on many ‘drag and drop’ or platform shopping carts is pre-smart phone. The website may show up when using a high bandwidth internet service, on your ‘up to date’ computer. Unfortunately, most consumers have the cheapest internet service they can find and then share it with their kid’s online games or their husband streaming a movie, which leaves little else to upload a bulky, code heavy website.
A website needs to load fast on ‘all’ systems. Just because it loads fast on your computer doesn’t mean it works on your client’s cell phone. What if they are still using dial up or 3G? Your portfolio and shopping cart may be the ‘cutting edge’ but that means nothing if it won’t open when people are ready to make a purchase.
Self-Promoting – AdCopy
- Just because your website ranks at position #1 doesn’t mean consumers will click your link. Does your description promote you or your product, or does it focus on the consumer’s needs?
- Does your description sell?
- Do you offer people a solution to their problems?
- Is it easy to find the information needed to make a purchase? Or do they need to wait 5 seconds and click repeatedly to find the information they want. Consumers are not going to read through 5 pages of boasting and bragging about your company and then fill out a form and then wait for you to respond. They want instant contact – by phone. They won’t fill in a form. They want to phone. They want an instant map to your retail outlet. They want an agent to come to their house.
Content Doesn’t Convert
Content should be written to your average customer, in a language they will respond to. Ignore your desire to sound official. Forget good grammar. Forget authority. Instead, focus on relationships.
Forget selling. Focus on people. In today’s world, you lose sales if all you do is post a picture of your product and write a description. You need to personalize that product and help your potential customer know how and why it will meet their need. Answer the question “why?” Why should they buy this product from you? If you successfully answer that question, they’ll want to purchase and may even become a loyal customer.
For further information on how Webmaster For Hire can help you optimize your online presence and make your website work for you, please contact us.