Is Your Website Doing It’s “Job”?
Posted on 23. Jan, 2012 by Westchester Internet Marketing in All Local Search Posts, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Websites
As a “marketing tool”, your website has a job to do. Should it be “fired”?
It may look pretty – but is it increasing sales and leads?
If you’re one of the 54% of local businesses in the U.S. that have invested in a website, congratulations! 28% of consumers give more credibility to local businesses that have a website. You’ve taken the first step in “getting online” – and if you have any level of optimization or analytics your certainly ahead of the curve…
(source: www.blog.diyseo.com)
Increasing your local visibility and reaching new customers and clients is most likely one of your goals – so promoting that site via SEO, PPC and Social Media is the next natural step, but wait! Is your site built/designed to convert?
If promoted and optimized correctly, your attracting your most relevant, local ready-to-buy prospects, but what happens when these visitors get to your landing (or home) page? Do they call? Email? Sign-up? Buy?
From a content/design perspective, the most important elements to drive measurable action and conversions include:
- Clear contact information – this includes your phone number (local, not toll-free) on every page, as well as your physical address (and map/driving directions if your retail). Also, a “contact us” page is a natural place for much of this information as well; it also makes it easier for visitors to contact you. From a SEO perspective, it’s critical that this content be included and consistent with your local listings data.
- Call-to-action statement – or some type of special offer/discount to drive contacts (phone calls or emails). What’s your deal this month? Are you providing free consultations or estimates? How about printable coupons?
- Price/product information – a recent survey indicated that this is perhaps the most important factor in converting visitors into customers. Be clear in communicating your products or services…
Remember – successful local online visibility is dependent on your websites ability to communicate who you are, what you do, and where your located; but once your “found” – your site’s job really begins.
So is your site optimized for conversions? Here is SEL’s 8-point checklist:
8 Point Checklist For Your Local Business Website
If you can answer yes to the following 8 questions then you’re doing a good job. If the answer isno, then you have some work to do – but the rewards will be all yours.
- Do you have your physical address on every page of your website?
- Are your contact details – i.e. phone number &/0r email address – displayed near the top of your website?
- Do you have a full list of services & prices on your site and is there a clear link to them from your homepage?
- Do you have a special offer on your website and is it clearly visible on the homepage?
- Was your homepage updated in the last 7 days?
- Do you have a blog or ‘latest news’ section on your homepage?
- Does your website look better or worse than your top search competitors? (be honest here)
- Do you have at least 1 positive quote/testimonial from a customer on every page of your website?
