Many people think the job of their website is to look good, and while it does help if you have a super hot website, that’s not really the primary purpose of a business website. If you’re in business like we are, then you have likely already figured out that the business world revolves around relationships. It’s very rare that you’d meet a super attractive person, walk up to them, drop to your knee, and propose a marriage right? I mean, I had a hard time asking my wife on a date at first. So why do people believe that someone is going to find their website, think, wow, this is beautiful, and read every word you have to say? It doesn’t typically work that way.
So are you ready for the answer?
The job of your website is to take your users on a journey that leads them from noticing your company, to offering you a handshake, to asking you on a date, to asking for your business hand in marriage, to the actual marriage where you start doing business together.
This process can be done on an effective website without having to reinvent the wheel each time. That’s the beauty of online, you build it once, and it continues to work repeatedly (at least that’s the goal!).
So what can you do to make sure that your website ACTUALLY does its job?
Your Website needs to be Professional
Can you imagine walking into a doctors office and there’s leftover food in the lounge, it smells bad in there, and there are flies buzzing around? How long are you gonna hang out there before you take off and never look back? I’d go about 4-5 minutes before I’m gone, if that long. So if your website gives off that “we don’t really know what we’re doing” appearance, it’s important to address.
While it’s true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the honest truth is, websites and businesses are quickly judged by their appearance. Right or wrong, we all DO IT! So one thing you’ve got to have is brand consistency. Notice we didn’t say perfection, we said “consistency”. You can do a lot of good for your business with a very small amount of actual visual branding! So make sure you give them something to remember you by!
Your website should tell a story
Your website story is an important story. What do all people like to tell about their marriage? Their engagement story. Ahhhh. The STORY 🙂 Here’s the thing, if your website doesn’t tell the users WHY they should fall in love with you, they won’t do it. So you need to craft a creative, SEO-friendly way to tell people who you are, what you do, why it matters to them, and how they can get it within just a few short seconds. Not an easy task, but an imperative one.
It’s a little like speed-dating. Hey – my name is Adam – I help businesses grow online, play drums, workout, have a wife, 3 kids, 30 horses, 30 acres, 2 dogs, and one cat, game over haha 🙂 For real, TELL A STORY, and most importantly, make the story about YOUR CLIENTS! You’re their trusted guide, they are the HERO, make it all about them!
Your website should load fast
We will mention this about 10,000 times if you work with our team, but a slow website is the death of a new relationship. Can you imagine waiting for a date for 2 hours after they said they’d pick you up? That’s the equivalent of a website that takes 8-10 seconds to load. Your users will bounce and what could have been … well … isn’t. 🙂
We’ve written other articles like Why Website Speed Matters that go into much deeper details here, but for your website to take the user on their journey, they’ve got to be able to get to your content, quickly and easily!
They have to be able to find you online, meaning, you have to plan, do on-going Search Engine Optimizations, and hustle!
There are A LOT of agencies out that that completely skip this crucial step. They start talking about sliders, storytelling, branding, color palates and all the fun things. If you want to get married in business, people HAVE TO BE ABLE TO FIND YOU! So everything that happens on your website HAS to be proceeded by a plan of what your users are looking for, where they will look, how much competition there is for those slots, and how to get YOUR business to show up. Remember, without this crucial step, you’re the most beautiful person in the world inside and out, but you’re sequestered to a one person island about 10,000 miles from the nearest person.
Ask your users to take action!
You really do have to be the guide. If you’re an attorney, real estate agent, contractor, museum, or whatever your business might be, people have found you online and they are relying on you to guide them in whatever field you are in. So let your site guide them to do something while they are there. Here are some really awesome actions that your website should be allowing your users to take:
- Email you and tell you about themselves! How quick and how easy depends on how many inquiries you want to field, but making it easy to get in touch is usually a good thing to do.
- Call you. Especially straight from a mobile phone, make calling you SUPER easy!
- Ask Questions. If you can handle a chat bot on your site where people can connect immediately, do it!
- Sign up to hear from you more! Maybe they aren’t ready for the engagement yet, but they want to think about it later. Give them a way to keep in touch by offering them something in exchange.
- Find your physical location. This is one that even big companies forget. If you have a physical location, and you want visitors, tell them where you are located.
- Learn. If they want more information, again, make sure they have a way to get it. Follow you on social media, signup for your e-list, etc.
By taking these steps you’re ensuring that your website is the COMPLETE package.
That makes it way…way…WAY easier for your users to find you, be attracted to you, learn about you, and have them tell you all about themselves. Your users should feel that they are being lead through a strategic path (funnel), without it being something they want to resist. If you can accomplish this, your website will start winning you clients. As your clients get bigger and better, your business WILL GROW!
Thanks for reading and keep hustling out there!
Adam Silverman, CEO of Muletown Digital
P.S – If you need a hand with any of this, we’re here to serve. You can Contact Us, or Get Started, and drop us the details. We’ll be glad to get in touch and help however we can!
Muletown Digital offer Web Design services to businesses throughout Tennessee, including Columbia, Nashville, Spring Hill, Brentwood and Franklin.
