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May 26, 2020

Is Your Website Helping or Hurting Your Business? Find out here…

OK, let’s be honest… other than putting up a new blog post occasionally, how long has it been since you spent any real time on your website? And looked at it with a critical eye?

In today’s highly-competitive, fast-paced world, if your website isn’t up-to-date, then your firm is falling behind. So, to make sure your website is an asset – and not a liability – here are the four key website elements you need to review:

#1. Content

The most important aspect of your website is the content… and if it hasn’t been updated in a while, then your site visitors are not learning about your firm as it is today, but as it was months – or even years – ago. Take the time to critically look through these key sections of your site:

  • Services/Products: Have you added any new service lines or product lines that are not on your website? Sadly, it happens all too frequently.
  • Industries/markets: Have you changed/expanded your strategic direction recently and are now targeting new industries or new markets?
  • New employees: In your employee section (you really should have one of these), have you added all new key hires? Focus on those positions that are client-facing – senior level team members, project managers and subject matter experts.
  • Clients: In your client section (you really should have one of these, too), are all of your most recent clients included? And if you’ve received any testimonials from clients, this is the right section to add them to.
  • Why us?: If there isn’t a section on your site called ‘why hire us’ or ‘how we’re different’… there should be. When buyers are comparing suppliers, use this section to help them make a decision. And stay away from the overused and trite phrases like ‘actionable insights,’ ‘we partner with our clients’ and ‘senior level involvement.’
  • Resources: Aside from updating your blog, are there opportunities for you to create new resources to share? E.g., case studies, white papers, webinars, etc.

#2. Look & feel

It’s amazing how quickly website design trends change… what’s popular one year is out of favor the next. And not that you need to have a cutting-edge website design (though there’s nothing wrong with that), but if your website looks like it was designed in 2013 – maybe because it was designed in 2013 – it’s time for a change.

While it’s tempting to save a few bucks and go DIY on your website layout and design, I’ll submit that this is the one place you shouldn’t skimp. Your website is the first place that a prospective buyer will go to do their ‘due diligence’ on your firm… and it had better impress! So, find a web developer that can help with color, fonts, layout, etc. and understands the user experience.

Want to know what’s popular right now? Trying Googling “2020 website design trends.”

#3. Structure/Navigation

Bottom line: If your website isn’t easy to navigate and if visitors can’t quickly find what they’re searching for… they’re gone! The ‘user experience’ on your site is critical for increasing on-site time and giving visitors the opportunity to learn about your firm.

In addition, keep an eye on these items:

  • Test all links on your site… and fix any broken ones.
  • Make sure there are links from your website to all of your social media sites (using the social icons works best).
  • There should be contact information on every page… or at least a link to the ‘contact us’ page.
  • Give visitors several different ways to reach out to you… a form to complete, phone number, email or web chat (most firms in our industry aren’t doing this, but web chat is easy to set-up and very low cost).
  • Get away from the very long, one-page website structure… while it’s easier to create, it’s miserable to use.
  • Your website is likely mobile-optimized already… but if it’s not – now is the time to fix that.
  • Make sure every individual blog post is on its own page; this will allow you to measure the readership of each post individually.
  • For SEO, make sure the key words and phrases that are most relevant to your business are used frequently and properly throughout your site. Also, make sure to include them in meta tags, as well as in page titles and URLs.

#4. Language

The vast majority of websites in our industry are inward-focused. Too much of “we do this” and “we’re great at that” and “our people are the best”… blah blah blah.

Buyers don’t care about what you can do… they care about what you can do for them. Which means that your website content needs to be written through their eyes, not yours. The key selling points on your website must answer the question that potential buyers are asking when they read it… “So what… why should I care?” And if you’re not answering it to their satisfaction… they’re gone!

For example, suppose you work for an all-qual shop. And one of your big selling points (at least you think it’s a selling point) is, “We’re experts in 14 different qualitative methodologies.”

But when a buyer sees that, they are not getting an answer to their ‘so what’ question. But what if you added, “…which means we won’t pigeon-hole you into just one or two methodologies – because that’s all we know. We’ll pick the method that’s best for your project!” Now that’s what’s in it for the buyer!

And that’s how your website needs to be written.

Conclusion

It is estimated that 70% of a B2B buying decision is made before the prospective buyer ever reaches out to the vendor. Which means your website has to be great! It has to contain up-to-date information, has to look sharp and professional and has to be user-friendly. Most importantly, it has to answer the important questions that website visitors are asking.

If your site does all of that, it puts you in a competitive position that most other firms won’t be able to match!

Good luck.

It is estimated that 70% of a B2B buying decision is made before the prospective buyer ever reaches out to the vendor. Which means your website has to be great! Click To Tweet

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