In this blog post we are going to be taking a closer look at why your website is the hub of your business and to boosting your leads and sales. Did you know, you have less than 10 seconds to impress and engage a new online visitor? It is so important that it’s clear to your potential customer what you offer and why you offer it.
Keep in mind that your website is like your virtual shop window, and its role is to entice, inform and convert your leads. I guess you could liken it to a salesperson. By getting more traction and visitors to your site, this ensures that more people get familiar with your business and more potential customers see your services online. You can choose how your business looks and sounds online, so that more satisfied customers will purchase directly from you.
So, how will you do this? Here, we have 7 steps to mould your website into an experience and journey your potential customers will not be able to resist:
Step 1: Show your intentions clearly
Your domain name and content on your homepage need to make it immediately clear who you are, what you do, how you can help and what your visitor’s next step should be (your Call to Action). When booking a holiday or buying a product, potential customers want to be led by the hand and shown the results to their questions in an engaging, quick and useful manner. Take them on a journey through your website - don't just let them click where they think they should be going. If your homepage misses the opportunity to showcase what you can do for them and what makes you special, then your potential customer will look elsewhere.
Step 2: Define your Unique Selling Point (USP)
In today’s busy world, it is more essential than ever to stand out from the crowd. And the best way to do this is to showcase what makes you special/sets you apart from the rest: your USP. Your USP could simply be the reason you do what you do, and why people should care about your product or service. This should be clearly defined on your website’s homepage and be seen clearly throughout your site.
Step 3: Understand your customer’s needs
When it comes to creating content for your website, you need to see the world from your potential customer’s perspective. Put yourself in their shoes, not your own. It’s all about designing and creating for them, and knowing what matters to them, as the paying customer. In order to get your message across you need to know your customer’s needs. For instance, if your hotel has been certified and awarded a special accolade, then how will this affect your customer’s experience? Don’t just list the awards and features of your hotel, showcase how these will positively affect your customer’s stay at your hotel and their overall holiday.
Step 4: Tell experiential stories
To really entrigue your potential customers, your content must take them on a journey. Don’t just simply describe the features of your product or service. Create enticing and emotional stories about what your potential customer may experience and what they can expect from their purchase. You want to get them excited enough so they keep reading and following the user journey set out for them.
Step 5: Don’t overdo the SEO keywords
Long gone are the days of complicated jargon and fluffy descriptions to fill out keywords to boost yourself in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Buyers want connection, transparency and honesty. So why use complicated and fluffy words when you can say it how it is! Instead, focus on genuine content that your audience is going to want to read. SEO is an important part of your website content, but it should be used with purpose. Your first responsibility is to your reader, and your reader is not a robot. Find out some great SEO techniques here, and also a few SEO mistakes to avoid here.
Step 6: Reach your target audience through message and design
Your target audience should always be at the heart of how you design and develop your marketing collateral, and your website isn’t any different. According to web credibility research from Stanford, 75% of web users admit that they judge businesses’ credibility based on their website design alone! You want your business to look professional and be appealing, and you want the customer to feel confident that you understand them and are a good fit for solving their problems. Your customer might be on your website to find contact information, as well as to make a direct online purchase, but they’re just as likely to head there after seeing an ad about your latest product or promotion. This all means, you need to make what your customer is looking for, easy to find! Otherwise, they’ll head elsewhere.
Step 7: Keep it up to date
You should do everything in your power to ensure your business is not stagnant. Therefore, the same should apply to your website. It's a living thing and needs watering to stay alive! As you make improvements to your services, you should reflect these on your website. You could make changes often with new stories and posts on a blog, new packages, new photos etc. Keep it current and interesting, and keep your loyal customers coming back for more. We have another blog post that explores this more - read it here.
To roundup, have a think about what steps you can take today to improve your website. Have a look at your homepage and try putting yourself in your customers’ shoes. Are you seeing everything you'd want to see? Are your needs and experiences being met? Is it up to date? If not, use the steps above to develop your user experience.
If you’d like to discuss a project with us, drop us a line on [email protected] or call us on 01353 882111. You can also find out more information on our services here.
