What is a Marketing Website?
Your website can be a powerful marketing tool with these eight components.
This era has provided consumers with a convenience they have come to expect of any reliable source...access to accurate information with just a few search terms and clicks.
Without question, having a website is a requirement of running a competitive business. If you are a business owner that has asked yourself, “What do I have to do to make my website bring me new business?” Then you may not have a marketing website.
HOW do we get our websites to actually be a tool for our business?
First and foremost, it needs to be understood that a good website is indeed a customer service tool that has the capability of collecting leads and selling items. Here is the short list to help you evaluate whether your website is set up to bring you new business.
Represents the Brand
There is a difference between design and branding. Branding is an extension of your company. Branding builds recognition, image, and style that is unique to your business. A marketing website will have your signature branding well balanced throughout the pages giving your visitors a unique experience in comparison to your competitors.
Clear Messaging about your products, services and company
Your marketing website will clearly tell your visitors what you provide right away. As a new visitor, it can be very frustrating to reach a website only to find vague or incomplete information about services, specialty areas, process, and who to expect to do business with. New businesses tend to feel safer when they keep their message broad and all encompassing for fear of turning good business away. The fact is, when a message is very specific to a focused audience then followings and conversions will increase.
SEO - The search engines have to be able to find it
Websites may be tools intended for humans to use; before any human can reach a page of any website search engine bots must read it first. Search engines were designed to help us keep information organized and relevant. Google leads the SEO way with sophisticated algorithms that encourage us to keep our websites clean and tidy with organized labels, clean code, and good content. Click here for some simple SEO guidelines to help you get your your website recognized by Google.
Captures leads
Are visitors leaving your website without an invitation to leave their contact information? Remember, this is a powerful marketing tool! Give your visitors a reason to stay in the loop. Provide an opportunity to receive a friendly reminder from your business. That could be all that is needed to close the next sale.
Is informative
Too often, I’ve visited a website to find a simple phone number, address, or hours of operation only to spend too much of my time clicking around and still no closer to finding these basic business details. Simple details should always be easy to find; don’t bury details of an upcoming event deep into a blog post or in a fancy font laid over an image. Instead, make details clear and easy to find. Visitors will appreciate the convenience and your business makes a good impression.
Easy to navigate
A marketing website has a flow and takes a visitor down an information path. Navigation begins with the website’s architecture. Are the pages organized in a way that makes sense to a new visitor? A disorganized website will create a bad user experience for the visitor. No matter how well it is optimized for search engines, if a user has a difficult time navigating through a website then you will lose potential leads.
Analytics
Google Analytics is still a Riza Marketing favorite resource. We install Google Analytics tracking code on every one of our marketing websites. Analytics data provides insight to what is performing well and what is not. Much like any machine, a marketing website needs upkeep and maintenance. Use data to guide you in identifying the areas that need updating.
8. Customer service tool
Above all, your website should be designed to provide a good customer service experience. Why? Because customers want to be able to easily find more information. Before any transaction takes place, there are questions to be answered.
What is this?
Is this what I am looking for?
Is is the best choice for me?
Do I trust this business to provide what I need?
How do I find out more?
Today’s marketing is about providing good service before, during, and after the sale. A good marketing website should be a significant part of the growth plan.
If you would like a website evaluation or recommendations for your own website, talk to us. We’re here to help.