10 Improvements to Your Businesses Website That’ll Grow Revenue
Your website is your brand ambassador. This day and age, it’s not just something pretty to show off to customers. It’s your first impression and even your foot in the door for new business. Whether you want it or not, your business needs to exist in some shape or form online in order to succeed in our modern economy.
But you’re not interested in just “existing”. Your manufacturing business didn’t grow by sheer chance. It took hard work, tenacity, and above all else, an ability to constantly innovate and adapt. The same is true for your website, and there are some simple improvements to make your online presence modern, thoughtful, and lucrative.
1. Showcase Your Team, and Make It Flattering
Customers love to know who they’re working with. And what better way to show them than an in-depth “About Us” page? Show off your employees and tell the world a little bit about them. When a potential customer sees your employees’ faces smiling back at them, they’re already connecting to you in a meaningful way.
2. Hire a Photographer, You’ll Thank Yourself Later
Along the same vein, you’d be doing yourself a favor by hiring a professional photographer, even if it’s just for one day. There are plenty of burgeoning local photographers out there that will take some handsome photos for a reasonable fee.
Get some shots of your business in motion. Show off your assembly line when it’s in full swing. Let the images speak for themselves—you have happy, hardworking employees, so why not show them off on your website? Having professionally shot photos of your business is a subtle way of saying that you run a professional and dynamic company. After all, a picture’s worth a thousand words.
3. Make Your Site Intuitive
Think of your website as the embodiment of your business. It should convey your company ethos and culture. With that in mind, make sure it’s intuitive to use. You don’t want current and potential customers struggling to navigate your website.
Once you’ve nailed your navigation, you’re not just saying you’re web savvy. You’re saying you’re attentive and efficient. And when a customer has a good experience with your brand online, they’re going to carry that into their face-to-face interaction with you. For a new customer, you’ll know you’ve already made a great impression before you even have a conversation thanks to your easy-to-use site.
4. Google Analytics Tells You a Lot About Your Customers, Without Even Asking Them
What is Google Analytics? It’s a way to measure your website’s effectiveness through its ranking on Google. Google will take into account your search engine ranking as well as how many visitors (unique and recurring) you receive on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. Your analytics will answer the question; is your online presence relevant and fresh?
This data is great for gauging interest online. Think of it as a survey, except you’re able to survey every single person that steps through your door without bothering them. At the end of the day, make the expansive tools you have available online work for you—they’ll provide you insight into your customer interactions that you could only dream of within the walls of your brick and mortar operation.
5. Give Your Web Visitors a Direct Avenue to Real Communication
We’ve all had the frustrating experience of not finding contact information on a website. After all, what good is a website if it’s not a bridge to actual human-to-human interaction? That’s why it’s important to have a Contact Us page. Not only that, but make sure it’s prominent and easy to use.
Contact forms are a great tool for filtering communication if you receive a lot of communication. Sometimes your business is simply too large to allow unfiltered contact from your customers. Luckily, it’s easier than ever to create engaging forms for your site that can filter emails as much or as little as is needed.
Are you a small operation, or just ambitious and forthcoming? Then don’t be afraid to simply slap down a phone number and an email address. Customers love seeing that—it sets a bold standard for your accessibility.
6. Your Website Should Be a Bit Bossy
You might have heard of the term “call-to-action” before. It’s an important part of the psychology behind advertising. And your website, at its core, serves as an advertisement for your business. So if you’re not telling your visitors to do something specific, there’s a chance they’re going to wander away.
Adding a call-to-action to your site is as simple as placing a “contact us” button at the bottom of every page. Depending on your business, you may want to add a “request a quote” or a “download our price list” to your pages instead. At the end of the day, it serves as a blunt reminder that you’re a business and you’re there to offer a service. It’s a psychological trick to get people to interact with your brand, rather than gloss over it.
7. Make Sure Your Site is Secure
Once again, your website is meant to embody your business. So making it a safe and secure place is just as important as making your physical business secure. Savvy customers can easily browse your site and determine if you’ve taken the proper measures to lock it down.
For one, make sure your domain name starts with HTTPS instead of HTTP. Think of the difference between the two as yelling a private conversation across the floor of your business versus having a private phone call.
And if your website is built on a content management system like WordPress, make sure you update any time you’re asked. These types of systems are so big and so popular that hackers are constantly trying to poke holes in them. It’s safe to say that every time you’re asked to update it’s for a good reason.
8. When Online, Be the Hare, Not the Tortoise
Slow and steady does indeed win the race. As a business owner, you’re well aware of the value of accuracy in regards to manufacturing. Without great quality control, you’re going to lose the race.
But websites don’t follow the same philosophy at all. You want to put as few obstacles in front of your customers as possible. Part of this is ensuring your website is fast and responsive across all devices. Many of us browse online using our smart phone, so don’t assume your customers will be sitting down at a wide screen monitor to browse your page. Having a slow or clunky website is a huge turn off. To avoid this, make sure you use a web hosting that can accommodate the demands of your website as well as the traffic it receives. And tie it all together with a design template that will adapt to all types of screens.
9. Emphasize Your Mission Statement
If you don’t have one already, think of a compelling mission statement for your business. It should tell your visitors what you do and how you can help them. It should be a concise summarization of your company’s culture and what is offers. Think of it as your website’s thesis statement—one or two sentences is all that is needed.
Once you have one you’re proud of, it needs to go at the top of your page and be the most prominent part of your homepage. You want your visitors to know exactly what kind of business you are and what you provide mere seconds after they visit your page.
10. Ensure Your Site is Clear, Even from Afar
There’s another term in the advertising world known as the “10-foot test”. If you stand back from a piece of advertising (10 feet is the standard), can you still understand its message?
The same is true for your website. Go ahead and try it—load up your home page, stand a few steps away from your computer screen and take a look. Does it make sense from that distance? If not, you’ll want to work toward greater clarity. Your message should be so simple that anyone can understand it with minimal effort. Technical details and specifics can come later, when you’re having a real conversation with them. For now, you want to entice them with something simple and appealing.
Clarity, Clarity, Clarity
At the end of the day, all of this boils down to clarity. You’re an expert in your field. And like any expert, you should know your product so well that you can pitch it in an engaging and uncomplicated way. There is a time and a place for the nitty gritty details, but that time is after you’ve already hooked a customer.
Make sure you bring that same clarity to your businesses website. You’ll want it to describe your people, your culture and your message in an attractive and unpretentious way. You’ll also want to have a secure avenue of direct communication. Above all else, don’t leave your customers waiting—keep your online presence fast and responsive across all mediums. With a harmonious online presence, you’ll see an entirely new facet of customer, and with that you’ll see more revenue.