Chances are, you already know the value of owning a website. A business without a website is a business that is getting left behind. More than ever, new websites are being built for businesses, because they understand the undeniable importance of owning one.
Having a website just to own one won’t cut it, though. A website cannot merely be your online business card– it needs to do more. In particular, it must be marketable enough so that you can consistently make sales from it. The ultimate goal of a website is to generate revenue for your business– everything else is secondary. With that in mind, let’s look at a few proven ways to make your website more marketable and significantly increase sales.
Improve the design
The quality of the design is a crucial element in the success in a website. First impressions are important. A website seems more authoritative if it has a great appearance, and rightly so. Researchers say that when someone opens your website, a first impression is formed in less than two-tenths of a second. First impressions are often the most important. The bottom line is that having a great design is absolutely key to creating a credible authority in your market.
What is credibility, exactly? And why does it matter?
For one, credibility lends proof of your authority. When people can believe in your brand, they will have absolutely no problem buying from you. Just like anything, displaying the best appearance is simply a matter of putting the best foot forward.
Let’s say that you want to go to restaurant to eat. You have two choices: One of the restaurants is unsightly, with poor lighting, a cracked ceiling, and dusty tables; the other restaurant has a modern look, with an appetizing decor, freshly painted walls, and a cleaner atmosphere. Which restaurant would you rather eat at? Most likely the latter, unless dining at uncomely restaurants is definitely your thing. This is because appearance matters in our decision making process, and it always will. If your website is poor, it doesn’t matter how fantastic your business maybe, because people value appearances first. A website with a great look will give the impression of a great business.
So, what matters in web design? There are a few things that are of immediate urgency.
- Navigation- A crucial element to both the functionality and appearance of a site.
- Layout- The placement and spacing of the website is an invaluable piece to the design.
- Color- The color scheme has many considerations. The functionality of the color in relation to readability and the usability of a website; how the color scheme complements the layout; how the color scheme communicates the mood or energy of the brand.
- Images- The use of quality images is an easy way to bolster the design.
The time may be ripe for a fresh redesign. If it is, and you don’t change anything, then your site’s marketability will suffer.
Run a Great Blog
The great thing about blogging is that it’s a great method to boost your brand. Brand-building is an important consideration for increasing the marketability of a website, and a great way to add authority to a brand is to have an active blog with valuable posts. Find a great brand that has an online presence, and you’ll probably notice that they have a blog. Blogging is huge for a reason, and it’s because of engagement. The benefits are twofold:
- You get a great chance building a relationship with your audience. A relationship goes a long way. It builds loyalty to your brand, and it can turn cold prospects warm.
- You receive the benefit of perceived authority. A marketable website is authoritative. A valuable blog helps to build that authority.
A great blog will accelerate your marketability. Businesses that have prioritized blogging 13x more ROI. A blog with focused content will drive more targeted traffic for a few reasons.
- Great content is an SEO machine. The reason that business blogs receive 97% more links is due to the fact that outside websites now have a real reason to link to you. Good content tends to get shared around the web, and the way to do that is through links. The more quality links that you have, the more traffic you’ll receive.
- Google algorithm sees these quantity of links as an indicator or quality, which means that you will start to climb the search engines. Which, in and of itself, will generate a great deal of traffic.
Without great content, your site isn’t truly marketable. Great content builds your authority, gives people a reason to link to you, and indicates to Google that you have a valuable website.
How to run a great blog?
- Use enticing, fresh topics. Nobody likes stale, boring topics that are on every other site in your marketplace. Find new spins on interesting subject matter to get people interested in what you have to say.
- Write longer posts. Longer posts tend to have more value because they pack in more information. That’s not to say that you should never write a short post, but if a topic can fit in more words with more salient info, then make it longer.
- Write in a non-boring way. Write with some gusto, with some metaphors, with an interesting style. Don’t let your content read like a dry, long textbook. People tend to hate textbooks.
- Don’t be afraid to try different content mediums. Try using podcasts, videos and webinars to spice things up.
Synchronize your web presence with social media
If your website is your headquarters, then social profiles are like interconnected bases. The amount of traffic you can get from social media is incredible. Take the proactive approach and create profiles on the important social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) and online media powerhouses like YouTube. Create engaging content for these platforms and link back your main site.
Social media is predicated on engagement. If you aren’t actively engaging your audience, you are not doing well on social media. How to maximize engagement?
- Post often, and post interesting content and images.
- Interact with the followers/fans on your page.
- Link to your website as often as possible.
Conclusion
Having a more marketable website will solidify your authority, usher more traffic into your site, and will ultimately bring in more revenue.
Are you optimizing the marketability of your site? If you never knew where to start, begin implementing the suggestions listed in this post. Beautify your design, create a content hub that will attract traffic and build your web presence, and become social on the most active platforms.