We talk to a lot of clients and we have for over 14 years now. Our clients are great because they understand that they need to invest in their website. The prospects that don't turn into clients are usually business owners who don't get this concept.
We're not the cheap website design company in Madison and we don't claim to be. If you want website design done right, you have to pay for the time to make that happen or it simply won't - corners will have to be cut. The problem is, these cut corners can be hidden. They might see a website that looks fine but there could easily be a load of technical issues that makes the website look terrible in Google's eyes. You get what you pay for.
Along with that, we hear from mostly everyone that their business is better than their competition. They give us tours, they tell us their story and we're with them. We get why they are better. This helps us carefully craft their website design to tell that story.
A number of our clients hire a copywriter to tell that story and we believe they greatly benefit by doing that. We always ask if a copywriter is needed. It makes a lot of sense to hire one because if you're going to invest in your website, the copy (text) better be doing its job.
When you hire Webstix, we make sure the technical part your website works perfectly. We have testers, we use tools, we do a lot of manual checking and so forth. If we've made a mistake in the past, we get the remedy for that mistake into our system so that there's a very small chance it could ever happen again. That's why 14 plus years of experience is a big deal and well worth the cost.
But besides that, you have to think about your website's design and content. Here are some tips to help make your website better:
1. Is your design responsive? This means does it work well on mobile devices? More searches are being done using mobile devices than desktop or laptop computers. If your website isn't set up for those devices (in Google's eyes), then you're losing lots of traffic. How much is 1000, 10,000 or 100,000 more visitors a month worth to you?
2. How good is your design? Maybe you've looked at your website and your business too much. Maybe you need an outside opinion (also known as consulting). We do that.
3. Why is your business better? Really. Ok, a lot of companies are family owned or deliver the best quality. Those statements have kind of lost their punch with the general public. It's time to stop saying why you're better and show it. More on this in a minute.
4. Have you told your story? People like reading stories or hearing stories.
Just the other day, I caught a would be burglar at my condo. He was in my storage area. What happened was, I was walking to my car in the underground parking, I thought I saw the light on in the storage unit, I thought I saw a shadow, so I stopped. Once I stopped, I saw the shadow still moving. I actually confronted the guy because he walked right toward me after he got out of mine and was looking at other storage units. I was partially hidden at that point so he was surprised I was there. I called 911 and the police showed up. I took the officer upstairs, we found the guy and they took him away. Apparently he had a history of doing this.
How was that? I just told a story. It was the short version but what did you think?
I've been telling that story to a number of friends the last week. I've noticed that when I tell it, they hang on my every word. They want to hear it.
So what's your business story?
Testimonials tell a part of that story. Are you using them? It's other people explaining the value you provide.
Does your website look old? Is the content up to date?
You're simply selling yourself short if your website doesn't match the quality of service or value you provide. You might think it's "good enough" but think about it - what is your competition doing? Are they simply settling for "good enough" or are they doing a better job?
You could also be sitting right at a point where you can make a few, easy changes and do better than your competition. Do not miss this opportunity.
There are LOTS of ways to show that you're better. If you don't work on this, your competition will. If you do work on this, you'll see more traffic, which gets you more sales, which brings up your numbers for this year.
The more you put into your website, the more you get it out it. Simple.
Don't ignore your website. There have been more advances in website technology in the last 3 years than the 5-10 years before that. We know - we've been there. The World Wide Web is literally in more people's hands than ever before. When they search for your business, are you there? Are you making the best presentation possible? Are you telling your story and showing that you're better?
If you need help with any of this, contact Webstix so we can help you. We have the experience, the business understanding (we're small business owners, too), the design skills and the technical knowledge to help your website do more and pay off dividends.
-Tony