Companies cannot survive today without having a professional website online. A website is how users find information on services, how new clients are generated, and how basic information about the company is disseminated. But just having a website doesn’t make all your marketing troubles go away. In fact, it might bring more of a headache – but a necessary one.
With a website comes traffic logs, content strategy, and sales funnels that all need attention in order to improve your business. If you’ve been experiencing trouble with your site and need help, try concentrating on these five areas.
- Improve User Experience
When a customer shops at a brick and mortar store, the longer they stay, the likelier it is they will buy something. The same is true for online stores. You want potential customers to enjoy their experience and to peruse the different pages of your site. The longer they’re there, the better the chances they’ll spend money.
To improve user experience on your website, focus on the following:
- Negative space – Don’t blast your users with everything all at once. Instead, use empty space to highlight each service. Take your users on a journey through your company.
- Load speed – Spending extra to help users load the webpages faster can dramatically improve user experience. Remember, you want users to stay on your webpage because the content is interesting, not because they’re waiting for it to load.
- Interactive – Make your words and pictures clickable. This is what drives customers down a sales funnel seamlessly.
- Minimalism – Embrace minimalism. It’s okay not to answer every user question on the website. Some companies have succeeded in the past with a small description and a contact form.
- Focus on Your Call to Action
If you’re driving enough traffic to your site, but not generating leads, the problem might be in your call to action. The CTA is the visual cue that users click on to progress down the sales funnel. Try using positive action words to entice users.
To improve your CTA, research competitors’ websites. Notice how they phrase their call to action and where they place it on their site. Try to do this for large, mid-size, and small companies to see different strategies.
- Drive Traffic with SEO and PPC
If your website isn’t driving as much traffic as you hoped, the problem might be in your content strategy.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Nearly all traffic flowing into your website will be from organic search. Organic search comes from users typing their desired service into a search engine and then clicking on the relevant sites. Rarely will someone go past the first page to find something that fits their needs. For this reason, optimizing your website for search engines is a crucial step to driving traffic to your page.
- Pay Per Click (PPC) – The first few results in any search query are usually paid advertisements. If a user clicks on one of these links, the company that posted the ad will pay a certain fee to the search engine for driving traffic toward them. This is how PPC advertising works, and it can drive a substantial amount of traffic to your website.
If you’re not sure which area needs upgrading, hire an SEO and PPC consultant. They will break down your website marketing strategies and show you where you can improve.
- Mobile Optimization
Over the last ten years, phones and other mobile devices improved their loading and data speeds to compete with standard desktops. Now, more traffic is generated through mobile devices, making mobile optimization a necessity. Most website builders will optimize this for you, but if they don’t make sure you fix this.
- Make Communication Easy
Many websites are including chatbots or live messengers within their websites to create a streamlined dialogue with their users. If you’re a smaller company, consider an automated communication app, one that directs user questions to appropriate members of your team. Or, focus on your contact page and make sure that it’s clear and easy to send questions.
Websites Drive Sales
Companies can do almost anything with the right website. They can improve customer relationships, find new clients, sell products, and publicize their brand. But creating this one-size-fits-all website takes time. By focusing on these five areas, you can improve your website one step at a time.
