There are 8 things every website needs to have in order to be effective at generating leads and sales.
1. Video – more and more important, although in my experience a lot of business owners just won’t do it. But if you can get over your nervousness, and get on camera saying who you are, what you do, and why you do it – that’s personal & powerful.
Example: As a car dealer, I would use my smart phone to take a short video at delivery showing my client walking around his or her new vehicle and driving away and then sharing that video via email with my client and posting it as a testimonial on my website.
You could use the same method in any other brick & mortar business.
The possibilities are endless.
2. Phone Number – Make sure your phone number is at the upper right side of every website page – It should also be obvious & prominent on your mobile site version too. Principle of Marketing: Always Make It Easy for your Customers to do Business With You.
3. Call To Action – You have about 3 seconds to convey who you are, what you do, and why the site visitor should care. If the home page is full of text about how great you are instead of what problems you solve, site visitors aren’t going to stick around.
4. Opt-in form – or some way to capture information so that you can market to them again. Offer something of value to your client as a way to capture their information.
Just saying “Sign Up for our updates” or “get our newsletter” will not cut it. Give people a compelling REASON to give you their information.
This underscores the importance of knowing your Lifetime Value of your customers or clients.
Once you know their value, it is a lot easier for you to calculate how much you are willing to invest or reward them with an “ethical bribe”.
5. Mobile Compatibility – It’s critically important that your website works properly with mobile devices (like iPads and Smart phones) Not just a tiny rendering of your entire site, but basic info like phone number, address, maybe a menu – depends on the business. Right now over 60% of local searches are done on a mobile phone and that’s only going to increase
6. Testimonials and Proof – If people love your service and you’re the best in your industry, say so! I believe the best way is to collect video testimonials of your customers saying that in person.
7. An effective “About” page – Typically your “About” page is the second-most visited page on your website. People want to know who they’re dealing with. Don’t hide behind vague reassurances or terminology, especially if you’re local. Videos of you and your staff are highly effective.
8. Social Media Connection – Now, more than ever, it is very important to have a connection between your website and social media.
Have you ever searched for something on Amazon and the next time you went to your Facebook page, you saw an ad for that very same product? That’s re-targeting.
Think about this: You spent thousands of dollars to create a website with the sole purpose of generating leads and ultimately sales. Don’t waste that investment by treating it like a digital yellow page ad.
That is just a waste of you money, time and effort.
The only goal of marketing for a brick & mortar business is to drive traffic either to your place of business or to your website and then you have to convert that traffic to sales.
With this simple tool of Facebook re-targeting, you make sure that everyone that visits your website, continues to be exposed to your message, product or services.
It requires a minimum of 5 “touches” before people begin to “hear” you message, and several more exposures (touches) before their action is initiated.
These simple 8 website principles are your key to having an effective web site that generate additional sales.