One of the first actions a prospect will take after learning about your business is to Google it. Or better yet, they will go directly to your website. Prospects will visit your website –whether they learn about your business through word of mouth, through a search, or from the back of your business card. Often times, a visit to your website is the first impression they form of your business.
The Importance of Design
You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression. Don’t believe me? Look at this.
Let me ask your this: Which of these websites would you be more likely to buy furniture from? Which one looks like a more established brand?
Your Website is More Than your Brochure
So often I hear small business owners tell me “My website is only my brochure. I get all my work from word of mouth”. Understandable, these business owners are not looking for lead generation from their website. But what must be understood is that a website can serve a larger purpose than simply delivering information to its visitors. Here are a few examples:
Look Like a More Established Brand
Look bigger than you are. Every marketer knows this: if you appear bigger and more successful you will attract bigger clients. It’s why you might spend a bit more money on a business card that stands out. Or why you might spend a bit more time getting ready before attending a business event.
I had a business coach pitch his services to me at a recent networking event. As usual, I entertained the possibility of being sold, but I quickly pulled up his website. The cost of his services were in the thousands, but that wasn’t the issue for me. The issue was that his website looked like it was home-made and cost no more than $500 to create. Now, this is a business coach I’m talking about –someone who should be well versed in marketing. I was thinking to myself, not as a web designer, but as a potential customer:
“How could I trust the ability of a business coach who’s advertising his services for $2000 – $5000 when he cannot afford a better website than the mom and pop shop near my home“.
Now he might actually be able to afford a better website than his current one. That was me passing on judgement based on what I was seeing, and we know this is something customers do in less than 1 second of browsing your website.
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Focus
During a call last week with a local business owner he told me that his current website highlights his low-cost services. Services that he no longer wants to focus on. And he’s ranking high on Google for these exact services. As a result, he’s receiving calls for $200 jobs that are no longer his focus –he wants to focus on $5000 jobs. The problem is that his current website is not inline with his business plan. He’s not attracting the kind of business he wants, because a lack of focus.
Marketing
Your website is one of your most powerful marketing tools. No matter how many ads you generate, landing pages you build, or newsletters you send out, in the end most of your prospects will land directly on the front page of your website. All your marketing efforts will bring your prospects to the same place, your website. And if your presentation fails there, then all online marketing efforts will fail.
Have you been meaning to get around to updating your website but those darned clients have kept you busy? We are offering you a Complimentary Website Attraction Report to let you know how you stack up against the market and how beguiling your website is to your prospects. Simply contact us to find out the truth about your website, once and for all!