Whether one is looking to digitize their aged brick and mortar business or create something that captures the spirit and essence of their startup, it’s more important than ever to design a useful website. If a company doesn’t plan on selling anything online, that’s fine. Having a website can increase credibility and give people more information to go off of before they even set foot in a physical location. Yes! In this day and age, every brick and mortar business needs to a have a website; even if it is just to give customers basic information.
Having a site allows people to judge a book by its cover, and with 81% of shoppers researching their purchase online, it’s a definite shift that has been occurring and solidified the fact that every business is better off with a company website. Not every site will be set up in the same way. If a company is offering software as a service, the site will look different than the local electronics repair shop down the road.
Capturing Leads
If the primary intent is to capture leads, then one needs to set their site up correctly to capture the pertinent information about their prospective customers. One can use services like Salesforce and Hubspot to obtain information that people have input through forms on your site, however, if the business is a relatively small business, this information could be sorted through manually.
Landing pages for different products all need to be set up to adequately reflect what one wants to get out of the customer for visiting that page. If the business offers free information (like a white paper study or an eBook), provide it in exchange for information (such as their name and email address), so promotional emails can be sent in the future that may pique their interest based on what page they were on when they signed up.
Business Card
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, people tend to judge a book by its cover. Though this may not be “right”, it’s how the human psyche works. If one isn’t too skilled with coding, there are website builders out there that can help with the creation of a beautifully designed site. Simply compare website builders and find the right one for you.
Some essential elements will need to be displayed on the site to avoid customer frustration:
- Contact information – Though it may go without saying, some websites make it almost impossible to get in touch with them. Be the refreshing protagonist in this story, and readily offer an email address and phone number.
- Products – If people are searching the internet to find out more about the business, the best thing to display to them is what products are offered – whether it’s a listing, or a menu with prices, giving more information allows potential customers to make an informed decision.
- Simple navigation – No one wants to struggle to navigate through a site. Though a site can look pretty, it doesn’t mean that it’s that functional. Granted, everyone wants a site that looks nice, but always make sure that it’s not at the expense of a pleasant customer experience.
The next time there’s a company meeting, make sure to map intentions on what is most important on the website then go from there. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The same concept applies to a business website. However, look at competitor sites if inspiration is needed, or go with tried and true methods.
