And, I need to add, are in denial about.
First, Speaking to Your Customer.
Most businesses say they know who their customer is, I find too many don’t. Many think their customer is like they are or want the same things they want. The message they deliver on their website doesn’t align with what their customers desire.
Think about the product you deliver and have a crystal clear idea who your audience is. If you are targeting business owners, don’t get hung up on technical details. Tell them how they can save money with your product, or your product will plain make them money.
Give them stats and testimonials. Don’t tell them how this new plugin will optimize the load speed of the website. Give them the ‘why.’ Tell them instead Google favors site which loads fast, and their search engine rankings will rise with a faster loading site.
By the way, you will probably need to explain still that the higher the rating will equate to more people seeing their website.
Bottom line, know your customer well and give them stuff they care about.
Second, Not Giving an Emailing List the Priority It Needs.
Over and over I find a mailing list is the best way to connect with customers. The most profitable customers are the return customers. You won’t need to spend as much to bring them back, and they are the most likely to bring in other customers via ‘word of mouth.’
For as useful an email list is, the small price you’ll pay to keep one will be very insignificant comparing it to the return it will bring. Many services offer a low monthly email fee, around $15 per/month, for an essential email list management tool. Get Response is one of those services.
For a simple $15 per/month, you get an email service which will not only house and send emails; you can schedule an automated email system and also parse the list into groups to more carefully target your message.
If the business offers a large, diverse bunch of products, not everyone will be interested in everything. Parsing the list into specific sections and then pairing the offering to the people who only want to hear about those products they’re interested in, will be most profitable.
Third, the Website Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect Before Launch.
Too many businesses would rather wait for months with nothing rather than getting something up quick and build on it as it goes along. Think about the website as a cash register. The longer you delay that drawer from opening up, the longer you can’t take in any money.
Get something up and add features and improve it every day. Too many businesses worry about the professional look of a website that doesn’t look perfect. Most people are more worried about finding at least a little information about the company rather than looking at a ‘website coming soon’ message.
As a side note, don’t leave empty links on a site. If there is no page, don’t put it up with a ‘Coming Soon’at the top. There’s nothing more frustrating than looking forward to clicking a link, and there is nothing there.
Get some information up there, a primary contact page, and let it go.
Fourth, Don’t Make Social Media a Final Destination.
A business needs to own its final destination for its customers. Social media sites should be a feeder of traffic to businesses home base, the website or blog. Social media sites are continually changing the rules and their algorithms. They control everything. A business needs to get their customers to a place they own.
I’ve seen businesses have their business social media accounts completely shut down. Talk about a revenue loss. A company needs several different traffic feeders to their home website. If one source gets shut down, the others can get ramped-up to cover part of the loss until the problem gets solved.
Social media traffic is often misleading. You can have a ton of traffic one minute and the next minute nothing. A business needs to make sure they own their home base and not rely on a single social media source.
Fifth, Flashy Doesn’t Always Equate to More Customers.
Most of the time, except if your selling websites, flashy graphics, and the ultimate cool looking websites can detract from your sales message. A clean looking site with a solid message is more effective than a flashy website that is hard to navigate or confusing.
A website needs to get thought out like writing a book. Get the core message down, then add features which enhance that message. If it doesn’t improve the companies message, it probably doesn’t need to be there.
There are some exceptions. If the business is selling websites, showcasing what they can do with their site can enhance sales. Maybe some software companies can benefit from an impressive website, other than that, steer clear of too much flash.
Now, there are plenty more things to concentrate on, but this will be a good start to set up a significant online presence for any small to medium size business.