When you think about it, your business has relatively few touchpoints with the outside world. You interact with customers in just a handful of ways, especially if you’re a small business. For that reason, you need to absolutely nail those interactions. It’s vital for the future health and success of your enterprise.
Developing a website that communicates what you’re all about, therefore, is vital. You want to show customers that you have what it takes to meet their needs and that you’re not just like the next guy. But getting the balance right is a struggle. You need to present yourself in just the right way to maximise your chances of conversion.
It turns out that it is more straightforward than you might imagine - and cheaper too. The best way to proceed is to create a website that is just like your business card - something that speaks volumes about the kind of organization that you run - all in a compact and neat space.
In many ways, your website IS your product in today’s market. Just look at companies like Amazon and Google. They didn’t rise to the top by offering unique products. Instead, they created new user-friendly platforms that gradually won an increasing market share. It was their expertise in creating quality websites that set them apart from the competition.
So how do you make your website into your new business card? Let’s take a look.
People don’t care so much about your products or even what your company stands for ethically. Their biggest concern is whether they can trust you to deliver the goods. After all, they probably don’t know you all that well.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing a cheap web design where you have a single page that displays all of your information. These personal pages are ideal for professionals looking to freelance their services over the web alongside a day job. And they’re also a good idea for those who just want to build a personal brand beyond their LinkedIn profile.
People respond quickly to color. So even while it might not look particularly professional for some industries, it pays to make liberal use of it. A dull website with relatively little going for it won’t attract people to your business in the way that you expect.
If you already have business cards, try to make the website fonts, styles, and colors consistent with them. The more recognisable you can make yourself through your website, the better.
If you don’t follow the above guidance, you will lose out, and business will drain elsewhere. Your competitors will start to pick up customers that should have been yours. And you will see the number of leads drop.
Remember, you don’t have to do things like SEO yourself. Most of the time, designers wrap all that stuff up in their services. So long as you’re generating a decent stream of income, you can afford to rise in the Google results.
Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay