Have you ever wanted a 24/7 billboard that never sleeps and a sales machine that never stops? Then you need a website for your business. As a business owner, you may think of a website as being a “nice to have” instead of a “must have”. Well, there’s a reason there’s such a fierce competition for that top spot on Google. In this post, we will cover the types of businesses that benefit from a business website and ways to maximize your website’s return on investment.
We Don’t Need a Website, Do We?
Oftentimes, small business owners think “We’ve made it this far without one!” or “We don’t sell a physical product!”. On the other hand, can you imagine the difference a 24/7 advertisement could make in those businesses? And unlike traditional marketing, you only pay for a website once. However, make sure to keep to the graphics up to date!
Service businesses benefit too. For example, imagine a homeowner looking for a new patio. The very first thing that homeowner will do is look for landscaping companies online that build patios. If you’re not online or your website is a poor representation of the work you do, that customer will move on. To put it bluntly: a bad website costs you sales!
However, it doesn’t matter what your business or profession is: lawyer, doctor, landscaper, electrician, plumber, deli owner, hair cutter, home inspector, the list goes on. There is a way that each of these can utilize a website to maximize their growth. A website is always discoverable, and always selling. With traditional marketing, you have to pay for advertisements and each sale has a cost to acquire a new customer. Moreover, this creates what is called a “value mismatch”, meaning, the value a website returns far exceeds the price you pay.
5 Fundamentals of a Strong Business Website
First, let’s start with the basics. The fundamentals of business websites are the same, but the unique method that is used to maximize their potential will vary. Here are 5 fundamentals you can use to start maximizing your return:
- 1) Create a strong logo that represents your business.
- Unique Logos are much more memorable and create a brand association.
- They are a quick way for customers to identify your service or sector.
- 2) Connect with your customers.
- Contact forms are great for customers to ask questions about your services or request estimates.
- Interact in real time with a messaging platform
- 3) Provide easy and clear access to information about your business.
- Prominently display hours and days of operation so customers know your availability.
- Use Google Maps as a great way for customers to find your physical location.
- Advertise the services you offer or products you sell, and what areas you service.
- 4) Set your customer’s expectations to “help” them choose you.
- Take advantage of using videos and pictures to show off your work.
- Use testimonials and reviews to bolster their trust in choosing you.
- 5) Use color and layout to guide the customer.
- Use color to highlight the areas you want visitors to pay attention to.
- Create a strong layout that guides the readers eyes to key areas such as Call to Action, Products, or Checkout Cart.
By keeping these 5 Fundamentals in mind as you create your website, you’ll have a strong starting point to maximize the return from your website.
3 Tips for Your Business Website: Maximize your Return on Investment
Above all, the single most impactful way to maximize your business website is through user experience. At Gray Wolf Web Design, we don’t just build websites, we craft digital experiences. The first step to achieving that sought-after user-experience is by ensuring your website is built on a strong “foundation” – also known as server. This “foundation” ensures that content loads, and it loads fast. The second step is incorporating a responsive design, which means that the website scales and fits (most) modern browsers, mobile devices, and tablets. Finally, you’ll want to ensure that you have easy, clear navigation that functions as users would expect.
Leveraging Analytics and Testing
Another impactful way to maximize your business website is by leveraging the power of analytics and testing. Tracking can be a scary word to privacy advocates. In this sense, we are talking about tracking users’ movement through your website, seeing what pages they visit, for how long, and more importantly, what pages they aren’t visiting.
For instance, it’s no surprise that for most business websites, the three most visited pages are likely to be the homepage, the about page, and the services/pricing page. By mastering these pages, and seeing what works and doesn’t, you’ll get a good understanding of how to improve your conversion rate. This becomes even more powerful if your website has an online store. In short, creating the right user experience can significantly improve sales both online and offline.
Utilize Social Proof and User Engagement
Finally, the third way to maximize your investment in a business website is by utilizing social proof and user engagement. A popular way to achieve this is using social media integration. This allows future customers and past clients to engage with you on a broader spectrum. By linking to your social media profiles, it allows your past clients to engage with your account, which in turn builds social proof. You should also consider adding an interactive quiz, where it may determine which level of service is best for a potential customer. To summarize, getting your visitors engaged with your website keeps them connected to your services and products.
Ready to take your website to the next level? Let’s Chat and see how Gray Wolf Web Design can help fuel your business’s growth!