Owning a small business is no easy feat. The list of things to do is literally never ending. You have to take care of customers, take care of employees, payroll, taxes, insurance, bookkeeping, hiring, firing, and on and on.
Not to mention you have to have a dependable way to attract new customers to your business so that you can always have revenue coming in to handle all of those tasks above.
It can be exhausting.
So when it comes to marketing your business you can’t really afford to spend a lot of time doing the things that aren’t actually going to move the needle in the right direction. Luckily there are some proven digital marketing tactics that (when executed correctly) are guaranteed to grow your visibility and bring in fresh leads that turn into revenue.
One of the most important assets you can have for your business is a lead-generating website that actually grows sales and increases revenue. Your website is the hub for your business when it comes to having an online presence.
If you own a small business you probably already have a website, after all, it’s not 1995 anymore. A website isn’t just recommended it’s a necessity.
It’s also important to not only have a website that looks great but ALSO turn traffic into leads, not just sit there looking pretty.
What good is having an amazing website with all the bells and whistles if doesn’t convert a new visitor into a lead by either getting them to place a phone call or fill out a form?
Answer: Not very good at all.
We’ve seen literally thousands of websites over the years and most of them are either not designed very well (ugly) or they look amazing but are not really designed to convert.
So what makes a high-converting website? I thought you’d never ask 🙂
We’ve compiled a list of the top 6 must-haves for your small business website.
Here they are in order of what we think are the most important ones:
Nice design that represents your brand well (but not overly heavy in “branding”).
Your website should look professional so we recommend staying away from free website builders (like GoDaddy, Wix, etc.) unless you hire someone to make it look better. Just remember to not try and get too clever. Keep the design clean and simple.
Have multiple Calls To Action elements.
I can’t tell you how many websites I’ve seen that have an amazing design but don’t ask the visitor to complete an action. It could be as simple as having a button at the top that when clicked calls your business.
You can have forms for visitors to fill out where they could request a free quote or sign up for a lead magnet or more info.
The important thing is that you always want them to do something not just look at your website and then leave.
Make it mobile-friendly and fast.
If you own a local business chances are most of your visitors are finding you on a mobile device. It’s absolutely crucial that your website be optimized so that it displays correctly on phones and tablets.
If a potential customer lands on the site and it looks funky and they can’t find what they want, they’re gone…to your competition’s website.
Test your website’s speed here: Google Page Speed Tester
Make sure your website is optimized for search engines.
Having a website that doesn’t get traffic from Google is like having a car with no gas. If you are looking to attract leads you need to make sure your website is optimized.
Having Title tags with your services and location is just the start. Consider building pages for each of your services and service areas. Make sure you (or you hire someone) create high-quality content that Google will love but your potential customers will too.
For a local business, it’s especially important to spend time optimizing for local SEO.
When local prospects search for services one of the top places they find you are in the local 3 pack on Google Maps.
Make sure your Google Business Profile is set up correctly and you are collecting Google Reviews and creating citations on directory websites.
Install Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
You’ll want a way to measure whether your website is getting visitors and you want to know how they found you and what they did when they landed on your website.
Google Analytics and Google Search Console are very powerful tools and best of all they are FREE. They can be a little tricky to get set up correctly but once they are they can provide valuable insight you can use to grow your traffic and leads.
Don’t wait, get them installed correctly now.
Have great content.
As we said above content is crucial for the search engines to show your website some love but it’s also a valuable tool to build trust with your potential customers.
Content can be in many different forms, blog posts, videos, etc. The important thing is that you create content that lets your visitors to your website know that they can trust you and your business.
If you are having trouble thinking of what content you should be creating just answer your prospect’s questions. Combine written content with video and you’ll be seen as the expert in your area for the services that you provide.
Key Take-a-ways
Remember that your website should be you’re #1 source of new business. You should view it as a salesperson that works 24/7 and should be generating traffic and leads as well as increasing trust with your target audience not just a pretty online brochure.
