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No matter what product and/or service you offer, does your brand clearly spell out what you have available to consumers?
Unfortunately, too many businesses don’t take advantage of one of their biggest assets, their website, to spread information about what they do. As a result, they could be missing out on business and revenue.
As you stop and mull your website over for a moment or two, think about ways you can better use it to promote your brand, giving consumers a clearer picture of what you have to offer.
Your Website is Your Best Friend
Begin by taking a look at your company website, making sure it is clearly defining what your brand is, who your intended audience is, and how your business should be the choice of consumers in your respective niche.
If you’re not quite sure what you should be looking for with your site, zero-in on these areas:
- Visually appealing – Does your website look appealing? If not, why is that? First impressions are everything in the business world, so be sure that many consumers come away with a good one when it comes to your website. The importance of appearance matters not just with the opening page, but all the way to the back end of your site. Even subtle nuances like your background colors, the colors you choose for graphics etc. prove important. If your site looks like a hodgepodge of images and colors, don’t expect too many consumers to be back time and time again;
- Categorizing appropriately – Review your website to see if all categories line-up appropriately. Another frustrating feature for visitors is if they have to jump here, there, and everywhere on your site to locate items. If you sell a number of different products and/or services, categorize them in an easy to find manner. You can do this by symbols, colors or other means, but make sure visitors can locate the product or service of choice easily when they pay you a visit;
- Mending broken objects – Another catastrophe to fend off is broken links. Sure, just about all business websites have the occasional broken link or two on their pages, but you need to avoid continuous interruptions on your site. Whether you have a page with service manual information on it for your products and/or services or a page sporting industry information specific to your niche, it has to work the first time around for consumers. Do periodic link checks on your site to make sure all links on all pages are in working order. If a consumer reports a broken link to you, fix it sooner rather than later. Broken links are frustrating and potential business killers;
- Reaching out – How frustrated do you become as a consumer when you go to a company’s website, only to find minimal contact information? In many cases, you have to form a search party to locate the details you want and need to reach the company. Always make sure your company’s pertinent contact info is front and center for consumers to find. If you have it buried at the bottom of your site’s main page, consumers could easily miss it. Have it in a prevalent spot on your site, allowing for easy access. Also be sure to include the various department heads if you have multiple wings in your company. It is best to provide the name of the head of each department, what their role is with the company, and a working link to their company email address. This makes it nice and simple for interested parties to initiate contact with them, adding more value to your brand when they visit your site.
If your website has not taken a front seat on your priority list up to now, change that moving forward this year.
Face it; your website is your business window to the world.
As more and more consumers browse and shop online for a host of items, it should move you to make sure your website is one they want to come and visit time and time again.
If your product and/or service offerings are not easy to explain on your website, do you think many consumers will find them even easier to understand in person?