As a business owner your business is your everything. It’s your ideas, creativity, and courage to take on life as an entrepreneur that has brought you to where you are today. When you express your ideas and people are receptive to what you have to offer, it is a great feeling. You may be sharing these ideas in person, or online. If you are using the internet as a means of growing your business, you definitely see the value of being digital.
Here at Paradiso Insurance we are avid social media users and we recently got a new and improved website. Today we’d like to cover some things that we find essential when it comes to your businesses website. Keep in mind, your website is the face of your business for many of your prospects who choose the internet as their main resource of info (that’s a lot of people, by the way). So let’s get started!
Your Brand
Your brand is a huge part of your online marketing strategy. Without a brand you will struggle to stick in the minds of customers and prospects. Your website should reflect your brand. When your customers and prospects get to your website they should get a good feel for your values and why they should do business with you. Your website should also reflect your brand identity. Your brand identity includes your colors, design elements, fonts, and visual elements. If you really want your business to resonate with your customers it’s important to have a strategic brand identity in place.
Your Contact Information
If there is one thing you don’t want to leave people searching for, it is your contact information. We highly recommend that you place your phone number at the header of your home page. By doing that, even if people don’t hangout too long on your site, they are at least able to easily grab your phone number.
Forms
Having a form available for your prospects to fill out can generate many leads for your business. Forms can vary depending on the type of business you’re in. For example, if you have a car detailing business a form would be perfect for your customers to fill out to be contacted for a quote. You can have your form on your website, and also in a “pop up” version. We recommend both. On our agency website we use both to ensure we are servicing our prospects right when they need us.
Location & Hours
This may seem like an obvious touch to a website, but believe it or not we’ve seen sites without them! Be sure to include your hours of operation as well as your address on your business website. You can also include Google Maps right on your website so visitors can quickly have a better idea of where you are located.
Services
Your website should be the one stop where your customers and prospects can get a feel for your business and its entirety. When displaying your services on your website be sure it is in a neat and organized fashion. Nothing will turn a prospect off more than a website that is hard to follow. Consider drop-down menus organized into subcategories, especially if you offer many different types of services.
Reviews & Staff
Nothing speaks more volume than what your current customers have to say. Show off your raving reviews on your business website so your prospects know what kind of service they can expect from your business. Fine tune your prospects expectations with a page featuring your staff. The more information you give your prospects, the more comfortable they are going to feel doing business with you. You can include your employees names, positions, as well as a brief bio if you desire.
Social Media
Is your business reaping the benefits of using social media? If so, include your social media links on your website. By doing this you are able to market to your prospects daily via social media. They will always be reminded of your brand and services when they are in need of your services they may be more likely to think of you!
Your Mobile App
If your business has a mobile app, your website is the perfect place to direct your customers to download it! Be sure to remind your customers why downloading your mobile app will enhance their experience as well as make life a little easier for them! Be sure to include links for downloading your app right on your website.
Privacy Policy
If you are collecting any type of information from people who visit your website, you should have a privacy policy in tact to protect your business. Seek out a legal professional to write you this document. Be clear with them about how you plan on collecting any information from prospects online so they can be sure to cover everything necessary.
Mobile Friendly
If your business website includes all we have mentioned thus far, you are in excellent shape! Now, one final touch that will bring all the magic together, your mobile friendly website! A mobile friendly website means your website is formatted for easy use on a mobile device. In today’s digital world, most of your website traffic is likely to come from a mobile devices. When your website is not mobile friendly, chances of someone leaving your website increase dramatically. Stay ahead of the game with a website optimized for mobile use!
In today’s day and age you are impacting more of your prospects and customers than ever in the internet world. Leave every website visitor wowed with a professional and memorable image of your business!