Business is about relationships and great customer service. When you meet a customer face to face you engage, build trust and educate if required. This is great customer service.
Your website is the online equivalent of building a relationship with your customers. By engaging, educating and nurturing customers they are more likely to buy from you and keep coming back.
Why settle for a good website when you can have a great website? Let’s dive in on what makes a great website.
So what are the key points to look for to ensure your website can achieve online marketing greatness?
Great Design
First impressions count and your website should be no different.
- A professional design that fits your branding and makes that great first impression
- Triggers emotion in your visitors
- Photos should be professional and optimised for web
For example, if you’re a restaurant:
- It should be easy to see your menu (with up to date prices)
- Open times and contact details
- Include professional photos of your food that looks appetising
- A clickable phone number also makes it even easier to order (call to action)
Strategy
Understanding who your customers are and what they want is crucial to a successful website.
A good strategy will enable you to match your customers needs in the simplest manner, making it as easy as possible for them to find what they need, making conversion as easy as possible.
Engagement
Whether your website is informational or transactional (eCommerce), it starts the sales process from the very first moment your customers visit your website. An engaging website will turn a bounced visit into a potential new customer.
Using the right imagery, language, tone and design are all ways to engage your customers from the moment they first visit your website.
User Experience
Knowing who your customers are and what they want will allow you to tailor your website to create a great user experience:
- Easy to navigate, with clear sections and call to actions
- Information should be easy to find
- Content is well written, helpful and easy to understand
- Your website loads quickly
Search
Search engines provide a path to your website via either paid advertising or organic search results. A strategy that combines the use of both paid and organic search channels often provides the best results depending on your competition and target market. This means creating content that is relevant and engaging for your audience.
Social Proof
If it’s great for a group of others then it’s going to be great for me too. This is the way social proof works, by building trust and authority. The very presence of social proof makes a business more trustworthy because, by definition, social proof comes from other customers. These serve as endorsements that this person, company, service, or product is great, and that the overall customer journey has other happy customers.
What are some examples of social proof?
- Social likes and shares
- Customer reviews
- Testimonials
- Case studies
- Trust signals (e.g. association logos, memberships, licences)
- Celebrity or influencer endorsements
Website Optimisation
Business is fluid. What works today may not work tomorrow. This is why ongoing optimisation is so important.
What does optimisation involve? Some examples are:
- Reviewing your content periodically (e.g. daily, weekly or quarterly depending on your business and audience)
- Regularly reviewing your visitors and how they are interacting with your website. Tip: Google Analytics is a great way to track your website visitors, with customised reports available
- Monitoring and optimising your paid advertising (e.g. Google Adwords)
- Social proof – Instagram feed, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube channel
- Reviews – Tripadvisor, Trustpilot, Google reviews
- Regular maintenance to ensure your website is secure and loading quickly
Key takeaway – a good website gives you an online presence. A great website builds trust and engages your customers.
Don’t skimp on a great website – it may cost you a lot more in lost business. By investing in a great strategy and understanding your customer’s needs, you will end up with a website that forms the foundation for your online marketing.
