TEN MUST HAVES FOR A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS WEBSITE
by Wood Marketing Solutions
The Web is full of poor business sites, and it's more than just bad design. There are many other elements outside your website looks that go into making it customer-friendly not to mention something that inspires them to actually do business with you.
From thorough contact information to social media marketing, here are the essentials that every small business website should have for it to effectively help you do business.
Good Domain Address
If your domain address doesn’t compliment your business or isn’t easy to remember, then chances are that your potential clients either won’t remember or even find your business. For example, if your business sells gadgets and your web address is www.gdgts.com, chances are more companies will appear before yours when someone searches for gadgets, especially www.gadgets.com; try it, there is one. Not all hope is lost, though; another important item is content strategy, which brings us to our next topic.
Professional Website
Have a website that meets or exceeds the level of professionalism your customers expect. I’ve seen a number of companies listed as 5 star businesses on social media sites by hundreds of people, but when I went to their website, it was old and outdated. Why would a business owner spend thousands of dollars to start a business and not spend anything on the one thing that people can see all over the world? It’s the equivalent of a restaurant owner spending money on the best food, ovens, and décor, only to use old table cloths on the tables. That is the equivalent of having an old website from a customer’s perspective.
Content Strategy
Does the content of your website target your specific clientele? If your content does not contain strategic content, chances are no one you want to attract will ever see it. For example, if you have a printing business in Phoenix, your content should reflect the areas you serve and what you do. If your content speaks of printing but doesn’t give a location, unless you’re nationwide you’ll probably be listed number 10,345 on Google. There are several techniques you can use to increase your page listing, and Content Strategy is one method that is extremely important for successful marketing.
Keyword and Marketing Strategy
Make sure your site uses key phrases and words that people use to search the Internet. Potential customers who want a pizza might use “pizza delivery 85014 best” to search for a pizza place in 85014. If those keywords aren’t in your site, you won’t be on the top of the results. Keyword and marketing strategy is vital to successful marketing.
Content Development
How is your content staying fresh and up to date? Blog sites are one way of keeping content fresh. Another method is hiring a marketing team to do it for you or at least assist you. At Wood Marketing Solutions, we assist each client in keeping content fresh and pertinent to attract and maintain clients.
Promotion
There are a number of ways to promote your site, and many marketing companies won’t tell you this but many of them are free. Good placement on the web is a combination of items, many listed here, unless you buy placement which many people shy away from. The cost of buying placement on a search engine like Yahoo is usually passed on to the customer.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing is a must in today’s world. Not just in Facebook, but all over. The Yellow pages are a thing of the past; today it’s about Yelp, Angie’s list, and so many others that give people a review or customer testimonial of your business in real time. It will make or break your business! Make sure you have someone taking care of you on social media sites. Do you know how to turn a customer complaint into a lifelong customer? We do!
Link Building
Another important part of a successful marketing strategy is networking. Not only face to face networking but also website to website. The more places your hits come from, the higher ranking your website gets. Having other companies link to your website is a great way to expand your website’s “reputation” on the Internet.
Contact Information
Nothing is worse for a potential customer that wants to buy something or visit your establishment than not being able to find you! Perhaps they can call but then there’s no phone number…now what? They’ll go next door to your competitor, that’s what. If you don’t have contact information displayed prominently and up to date, your website is useless. It’s almost like locking your doors.
Dependable Hosting
So now you’ve got a great site and it’s up. Customers are complimenting you and business is booming, then bam! Your site is down, now what? If you have a website through Jim Bob’s networking, chances are this situation will occur. At Wood Marketing Solutions, we use GoDaddy. It’s local, extremely dependable, and easy to use. Your site gets backed up regularly, tools are updated, and it’s very inexpensive.
