Is a Strong Home Page Key to my site?

Q : I just started a service-based business and I am building my website. I am getting a lot of different advice from many different people and not sure where to start. Can you give me some simple, proven strategies to make the most of my site?

A : Depending on the purpose of your site, there are many different approaches one can take to achieve the desired outcome, but there is a fundamental principal that is key to creating a profitable website vs. one that is not so profitable. That is having a strong home page that speaks directly to your ideal customer.

Don't start off by talking about you. It is tempting to build up your credibility on the home page, but it really is best to save that information for the About page - where people will naturally look when they want to know more about you and your services.

Before people want to know about you, they want to know what you can do for them. They're thinking, "What's here for me?" You want to clearly describe and speak to your ideal clientele.

You also want them to take one look at your home page and say, "Wow! She is talking to me! This is exactly what I've been looking for! I want to know more."

NEW YEAR...NEW WEBSITE RESOLUTION?

It’s that time of year again. Time to start making resolutions that you hope will still be around through Valentine’s Day. Oh, these resolutions aren’t for you, of course, but for your Web Site. After all, if 2013 is going to be a another banner year for online sales and lead generation, it’s time to get crackin’!

Put Others First. Is your Web site–and your home page in particular–self-centered? If your home page talks about you, your company and all the fantastic products and services you offer, it’s no wonder you’re boring your audience to tears (or at least to their back button).

Your visitors didn’t come to your site to buy from you…they came because they had a issue or a problem they needed to solve. To paraphrase a famous sales quote, they’re not interested in your quarter-inch drill bits, they’re interested in their quarter-inch holes.

Your Web site isn’t about you or your business…it’s about your customer. Talk about their needs, their problems, and what they can expect from working with you. After all, people are generally self-interested on the Web (and elsewhere). Make your site about them and they’ll find you endlessly fascinating.

Try New Things. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, staying in your comfort zone and leaving well enough alone. However, your competition doesn’t think like that. And if they do, it will be easy to surpass them by continually trying out new things on your Web site or testing new Web marketing projects.

Start a blog or try out podcasting. Give pay-per-click ads a chance. Contribute an article to an email newsletter that targets your audience. Set up a wiki to better collaborate with your customers. Add user surveys or a discussion forum to your site.

There are plenty of low-cost, easy-to-implement online tools that you can add to enhance the communication you’re having with your customers. If they fail you’ve learned an inexpensive but important lesson. If they succeed you’ve further bonded with prospects and clients.

Lose Weight. It’s time to shed those unsightly pounds…pounds of bulky code or large images that are slowing down your Web site and causing strapped-for-time visitors to go elsewhere.

If your Web site is more than a couple of years old, the code is probably due for an overhaul. By using A CMS CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM you can dramatically reduce the amount of code on your site, speeding up the time it takes for your pages to load. 

Using a CMS drag and drop system to style your Web pages can also make future updates and redesigns much easier, saving you money making the changes easily yourself or delgating it to someone in your company that has the time on their hands.

Follow Through. Sure, it’s easy to say you’re going to update your Web site once or twice a month. You know that there are search engine and customer-retention benefits to keeping your site fresh. But after a few months you’ll get busy and the Web site will be on the back burner.

Set up time in your day-timer or calendar now to generate new content for your site. Or, if you have the time now, write some copy that you’ll add to your site in the coming months.

With our NEW Content Management System (CMS), you'll be able to create new content/articles and have them automatically go public within seconds. That should free you up down the road when customers and clients are banging on your doors in reaction to all the positive changes you’ve made to your Web site and your Internet marketing.

Ready to start?  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we'll have you a NEW REDESIGNED WEBSITE before your New Year's resolution and then you can choose a new one!
 

5 Things That Belong on the Front Page of Your Website

In business, you only get one chance to make a good first impression, and your company's website is no different. When customers arrive at your site they should instantly have a clear understanding of who you are and what you do. But statistics show that many small-business websites lack the basics, which puts them at risk of losing a customer with just one click.

The relationship between a customer and a business is based on trust. Is your website customer-friendly? Start with the five things that belong on the front page of every business website. 

1. Contact information: A recent survey by Chantilly, based local media and advertising research group BIA/Kelsey indicates that nearly 75 percent of small-business websites don't have an email link on their homepage. And six out of 10 don't have a phone number. 

Minimally, your site should have a clear email link and a phone number. If you have a physical location, consider including the full address with the state and zip code, as well as a map and directions.

If you still don't have a mobile-optimized version of your website you're most likely turning away potential customers without even knowing it.

Consider the numbers: Nearly half of all adults use a smartphone, according to recent findings by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Ninety percent of those smartphone owners say they use the device to check email, twitter, facebook and surf the web. That's not counting people who use other mobile devices, such as tablets, to access the web.

With mobile internet traffic on the rise, you might think small businesses are developing mobile-optimized websites. But you'd be wrong. Only 26 percent of small businesses have a mobile website. That's a growing problem -- especially for local businesses.

Here's a real example of how customers get turned away...

"A recent excursion I had with a friend downtown Vancouver. We were on the move, smartphones in hand, looking for a particular restaurant -- which will remain nameless -- to grab a bite to eat. I used my iPhone4 to look up the restaurant's website but all I saw was a white screen with two links to download PDF files of the lunch and dinner menus.

No contact information. No hours. No easy-to-read menu. Sorry, no business from me!"