People are connected no matter where they go. We live in an age where people carry tablets, mobile devices, and even smaller laptops anywhere they go. That’s why websites are important for any business’s online marketing. Having a website can help you reach further than any other form of marketing there is. No one really carries a radio anywhere they go anymore. They also aren’t around television screens as often as they are around screens that push the internet on them. Having a website will drastically increase your visibility. Even if you don’t pay for advertising you can still reach out to potential users for your product or brand simply by having the relevant content that people are looking for. Of course, it’s not that black and white. There are still steps you need to take to make sure that your website provides the information, service, or content needed to convert potential users into customers.
A Website Is Where You Provide Information
You’re not going to be available twenty-four hours a day to answer possible questions. It’s also costly to hire people who can be available all the time to provide information to potential users. Plus, not a lot of people like talking to live chat agents on websites, even if they are automated bots that just pump out information from a knowledge base. Anyone around the world can view your website any time of the day and that means you need to have relevant and up-to-date information that helps drive conversions for your business.
Your website should be where you send customers for information on your product. This is where you link customers when they have any questions or to give them reading the material so they can make their own informed decisions. Getting conversions through sales is the only way to keep your company running. These users who are using your website to learn about or purchase from your business are the backbone of your entire model. Without the potential for conversions, your company or brand would not have any success.
Going back to having twenty-four-hour information, you also have twenty-four-hour potential for selling your product or service. Instead of paying someone to always be available, especially at the beginning, you have everything they need to make an informed decision. Imagine your website as a passive salesperson. The content that you have on your website should convince any potential customer that they should purchase your product or service.
The Content Of Your Website Is Equally Important
What is the first thing that you notice when you visit a website? Does the first impression you receive when visiting a website make or break your decision to close out the tab without looking further? You need to make sure your website doesn’t look like it was made in the 1990s by Geocities. That’s a great way to make people click out of your website. You need to make sure you have engaging content. People love engagement. They don’t want to just sit there and read anything. They want to take polls, they want to watch videos, they want to comment on their thoughts. Make sure the type of content you put up is relevant to your brand and gets people thinking about it. Most importantly, make sure the content you have gets people talking about it.
No matter the type of marketing you do, the best form of advertising will always be word of mouth. The more you get people talking, the more eyes will be on your website. Credibility is very important. What are people saying about the content on your website? With various rating websites such as Yelp and others, you really have to make a great impression. The impression shouldn’t just be how unique your website is, but the kind of content and information they pull from your website. One of the major complaints about various websites is not being able to find information. Often times companies gatekeep information behind needed to sign up for something or to call somebody, and that drastically drops the conversion rate as not many people are willing to do that.
Here is a list of our website content checklist that most websites should include:
Focus Keywords on EVERY page
Homepage
About Us
Services (and prices)
Blog page
Blog posts (like this)
Contact page
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers page
Testimonials
There are many other informational and important pages you can add on a website but these are the "musts" for a basic website plan.
Which Platform Is The Best To Build A Website On?
So, you’re ready to create a website? There’s plenty of options to choose from. You have free options, you have paid options, you have easy-to-make options, and you have complicated options when it comes to developing a website. It really is all about what you already know. Do you have the skills to create a website of your own? Do you need your handheld to create a website? Would you rather have more customizable options that you can build yourself or would you like drag-and-drop tools to help you create the website of your dreams? There are plenty of platforms where you can build a website. There’s Wix, Weebly, GoDaddy, WordPress, and a list of different platforms you could use. Let’s take a look at two of the biggest ones: Wix and WordPress and see which one works best for you.
Should You Build A Website On Wix?
You’ve probably seen commercials or advertisements about Wix. Wix is really easy to use with a very simple website builder. Wix has plenty of tools you can use directly from the admin panel where you can pretty much build your website like a puzzle. There are different moving pieces on Wix. Of course, you can also use Wix for absolutely free, but there’s going to be limitations on what you can do. If you’re a small business without a lot of budget towards your website, then Wix is a great place to start.
The free Wix does have ads though. These ads do not go towards your revenue. They go towards supporting Wix, but that’s a sacrifice you’re going to have to make if you want to go the free route. You also only have a maximum of 500MB of storage. That’s not really a lot if you plan only having a lot of content on the website. You also only have a maximum of 500MB of bandwidth as well. The deal breaker for many people is the fact that the free Wix doesn’t include an ability to add a tool for online payment, nor does it allow you to do Google analytics. Analytics are important in tracking how your brand is doing, so if you’re the type of person who needs those in order to see how your company is doing, then you might want to look at Wix’s premium features.
Wix has a number of different plans that you can use. The more expensive plan you go with, obviously, will have the most options. You can have ads removed, you can have access to better support, you can have analytics, and you can even have e-commerce support. All-in-all, Wix is the platform you want to go with if you aren’t familiar with coding or technological know-how, but if you have a basic understanding of website building, then you’ll want to look at WordPress.
Wix also has options to hire experts in their Wix Arena. These are freelancers and digital marketing agencies that have proven experience in Web design, SEO marketing, Social media marketing, Advertising, and more!
This is a free service to use. Check out The Social Shark's Wix expert portfolio using the link below:
Should You Build A Website On WordPress?
The learning curve for WordPress might be a little too difficult for those who just want a basic website. However, if you want to sit down and really learn how to build a website through WordPress, then you’ll have a more functional and beautifully-designed website than you could ever achieve with Wix. WordPress offers better templates, better-advanced options for customization, and better options for blogging content that offers engagement.
Engagement is very important when it comes to building a website. Engagement is one of the best forms of content that you can use to convert users into potential customers. Many go with WordPress for all of their options compared to Wix but get intimidated by how difficult it is to use. However, if you do have funds in your budget for your brand, then you should look into hiring someone to build your WordPress website for you. However, there’s plenty of online resources that you could use to teach yourself how to build your own WordPress website in a matter of days or weeks for free.
Of course, if you’re going with free WordPress, then you’ll have limited options, unlike paid WordPress. However, WordPress pricing is a lot more straightforward than Wix is. They list everything you do or don’t get. For example, for just $4 a month, you can remove ads on your website, get your domain for a year, and have access to support. Unfortunately, you only get 6 GB of storage space, but that’s so much better than Wix. Even the free option for WordPress offers more storage space than Wix.
However, if you want to grow your business, then you should look into WordPress’s Business or eCommerce plans. The eCommerce plan is only $45 a month, which comes with everything to build your online store.
In summary, if you want simple without a lot of options, then Wix is for you. However, if you want to really bring life to your business with a little learning curve then WordPress is where you should go.
How Else Do I Make A Good First Impression?
While content is the best way to make a good first impression, you can’t discount how the design of your website will also influence conversion as well. Does your website have so much going on that it takes forever to load? Is your design confusing? Does it have a mobile-friendly version? Having simple navigation is more important than having a beautiful design. Having a way to navigate and research content is more important than flashy eye-popping graphics.
However, there is a way to have both if you do it correctly.
Your website is the first impression of your business. Make sure it has everything a customer needs to decide. Even if it doesn’t have all the information, you should have a way for them to easily contact you for more information.
If this is too much sauce to take in at the moment, not to worry. The Social Sharks have built hundreds of beautiful websites that get daily conversions. Please contact us today to discuss a new or redesigned website for your business!
