Get More Customers With These Expert Website Optimization Techniques
Friday, March 03, 2023
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As a business and marketing consultant, telling a small business owner to “assume the perspective of your customer” is one of those classic easier-said-than-done problems. It’s not for lack of trying, but owning a small business isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle. And when you put that level of passion and commitment into something, your unique familiarity with it can be tough to shake.
Yet this is the simplest way to optimize your website quickly. By deeply considering your customer’s perspective and buying journey, we can make decisions that put everything in the right place for the customer to easily and quickly complete their interaction with your business and maybe even leave a lovely review.
While it’s essential to have each of these elements be part of your website, the specifics of their presentation must consider your specific customer demographics. Most notable will be the difference between the information on an online store, where the priority is to drive sales, versus a traditional brick-and-mortar business, where the focus is to get them to visit you.
The Must-Haves
Contact information
Much of your web traffic will be coming from customers looking to use your website as a tool to communicate with you. Whether by email, phone, or in person, the information that helps them accomplish this needs to be a top priority.
Placing a “contact us” link that is highly visible in the top right corner of your website is never a wrong move. But if your customers aren’t web savvy, consider putting your address, phone number, and hours of operation right on the home page. Additionally, if your business location is a little off the beaten path, consider embedding your google business profile map location on your website to help people find your location.
Product Information
Having product information optimized for search engines (SEO) is a growing priority for small businesses online. Many searches now happen on mobile with the intent of “in the moment” product research, sometimes even in-store. The more specific information you can have online about what you sell, the better. Finding your product information may even lead to customer conversions while they are in a competitor’s store.
Keeping an up-to-date and functional product catalog online can be time-consuming. Still, given the potential value, it is most certainly worthy of consideration. This is particularly important if your demographic skews younger and more web savvy.
Business Information
Give a quick, easy-to-find snapshot of your business and history for people interested in learning more about you. Keep in mind, if people are looking at this part of your website, they are likely close to buying. Make sure you put in a little marketing effort here to help seal the deal. Make it concise, including business history, location, relevant achievements, and philosophy. Including customer testimonials, if you have them, is also a good idea.
Quick Links To Social Channels
Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are all great tools to help foster a direct line of communication between your business and its biggest fans. Your website should prioritize getting those followers and likes as easily as possible by installing a quick link widget into the footer or header of your website. That way, no matter where your customer goes on the site they are always one click away from connecting with you on Social.
Content/Media
It’s becoming more and more common to see small businesses feature active content strategies, and it’s easy to see why:
1. Content is authentic – No one likes being sold to. Content is a great way for a business to build a relationship while leaving the hard sell on the shelf.
2. Content is made for local – A good content strategy can help a company establish itself as grounded in its local area through authentic stories for and about its community.
3. Content is hyper-targeted – Based on how you answered the first three questions, your website, at least a little, is likely targeting customers at a specific part of the sales funnel. Having a fully realized content strategy allows you to add balance to your site. For example, if your site is designed to drive new sales, perhaps the content can be targeted toward customer retention by adding value to those people already in the fold.
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Easy Content Strategy Win = How-To videos
Creating how-to videos can be an excellent marketing tool for home service businesses like roofers or plumbers. These videos provide a double-win for the business because they allow you to showcase your expertise while providing helpful information to potential customers.
The first benefit of creating how-to videos is that they can be highly effective in capturing the attention of your target audience. Videos are a popular form of content and have been shown to be more engaging than text or images alone. By creating how-to videos, you can attract potential customers who are searching for answers to their questions about home maintenance and repairs. These videos can be shared on social media, your website, or on video platforms like YouTube, making it easy for your content to reach a wider audience.
Another benefit of how-to videos is that they are easy to produce. With the availability of affordable equipment and editing software, it’s possible to create high-quality videos on a budget. You don’t need a professional film crew or a big budget to make effective how-to videos. In fact, many people prefer videos that are more personal and authentic, as it helps to establish trust and credibility with your audience.
Finally, creating how-to videos gives you the platform to demonstrate your expertise. As a roofer or a plumber, you have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be shared with others. By creating videos that showcase your skills, you can establish yourself as an authority in your field, building trust and credibility with potential customers. This can help to differentiate your business from competitors and increase your visibility in the marketplace.
Putting It All Together With Design
When considering design and layout, it’s entirely appropriate to look at it as an opportunity to infuse some of your business’s personality into your website’s look and feel. But heed this warning: design is where it’s most critical to consider the customer’s perspective. Too often, small business owners create a website that follow current trends but fail to consider how it will work for their customers.
Here are two top-level considerations when choosing a design.
- Mobile Functionality is King: This has to be top of mind at every stage of design. While most modern design templates are mobile functional, it’s worth looking at the ones that do it best. And if you haven’t updated your website since the inception of the smartphone, you might want to think about a redesign.
- Keep It Simple: You may have noticed that this blog really pushes the need for priorities. With that in mind, consider putting only the most crucial information on the home page. Your home page must include easy links for contact info, product info, and business description. After that, it becomes really dependent on your goals and objectives. But when considering the perspective of your customer, often less is more.
Build For Speed
By keeping things simple and prioritizing mobile functionality, you will likely build for speed. But this point is critical enough that it bares repeating. Your site needs to be fast! According to a study conducted by Forrester Consulting, 40% of shoppers will wait no more than three seconds for a retail website to load before abandoning it. This means that slow-loading websites risk losing almost half of their potential customers before they even have a chance to engage with them.
Moreover, Google also uses load time as a factor in its search ranking algorithm, so slow-loading websites are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to search engine optimization. In other words, a slow website not only puts off potential customers but also reduces your visibility in search results, making it harder for people to find your business online.
When it comes to website speed and functionality to generate leads. BKXX Enterprises relies on ClickFunnels to get the job done.
ClickFunnels 2.0 addresses these issues by providing a website builder that prioritizes speed and mobile functionality. By creating sites that load quickly and work seamlessly on mobile devices, businesses can improve their search ranking, attract more customers, and increase their online presence. In addition, ClickFunnels 2.0 offers other features that can help businesses grow, including a range of customizable templates, A/B testing capabilities, and integration with popular marketing tools like email and social media.
To learn more about how ClickFunnels can help your business and generate more leads, click the link here.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it’s a pretty great time to build a website for your business. Hosting is cost-effective and secure design templates have never looked nicer, and plenty of great content exists to help guide you through the process. But if you are ever curious if your website is serving you well, follow this tip from Kevin Lao at Google: take out your phone, pull up your site, and ask yourself “do you like what you see?” Now go to your closest competitor’s site and ask yourself the same question. Your answer will tell you all you need to know.
If you don't like that answer, we are here to help. BKXX offers a suite of services tailored to help businesses make the most out of their online presence. We can provide full service web design, hosting and maintenance packages, or simply guidance on how best to approach your website design project. With our expertise and support, you can be sure that your website is optimized for success. Contact us today to learn how we can help you conqure the local market.
If you want to pay more for your leads, that's your business. If you want to pay less that's mine.
Contact us today to learn how BKXX Marketing can reduce your cost per lead and help you dominate the local market.
