Websites Stimulate Discussion
Has this ever happened to you?
You’re chatting with someone about your marketing and then the subject of your website comes up. It has to. After all you do have a website don’t you?
BAM…
… all of a sudden
the conversation starts to get interesting, opinions start to fly and before you know it you’ve spent ages discussing the pros and cons of websites. You’re talking about SEO optimisation, mobile responsiveness, organic traffic, PPC traffic, google searches, local area marketing, how you once subscribed to some website and now get endless emails from people you don’t know, clicks, visits, bounces and all that other analytical stuff. Some of it is relevant to actual sales and some of it is just about numbers and what is known as ‘vanity metrics’ and makes you feel good.
Over the past few weeks I have been fortunate enough to have been talking to a lot of SME business owners about what it is that KentServe does. And once I tell them that ‘one of’ the services we provide is to work with and teach business owners how to build mobile responsive SEO optimised websites that can generate leads 24×7 their ears prick up and off we go…
… all of a sudden the conversation starts to get interesting, opinions start to fly and before you know it we’ve spent ages discussing the pros and cons of websites.etc, etc, etc.
Groundhog day, but you get the gist.
Most Websites fail to deliver
I’m not sure if you can relate to this also, but what’s interesting to note is that during these discussions most people’s overall experience of websites has been relatively poor – other than for a small handful of well known websites.
Either their own website is gathering cobwebs on some back page of google and no one can find them, or they have visited other websites and found them totally confusing, difficult to navigate, or quite simply not even relevant to what they were even searching for.
Sound familiar?
When I’m talking to SME business owners and solopreneures, the overall feeling is that they seem to think their website is the silver bullet to their marketing challenges.
And that all they have to do is get a website up and online and as soon as they launch it they can sit back, everyone’s going to know they exist and they can simply watch the cash flow in.
This could not be further from the truth.
Your website is not a silver bullet, traffic doesn’t magically appear just because you built it.
What Do You Want Your Website To Do?
Before you build (or revamp your old website into) a modern mobile responsive SEO friendly website (if you’re not thinking strategically like that nowadays then you’re going to be missing out on a lot of organic SEO traffic), the first question you need to ask yourself is what is it that you want your website to do for your customers?
Notice I said – for your customers and NOT for you.
You see, “your websites only purpose must be to serve your customers in some meaningful way.”
Yes, that may mean it is part of lead generating sales funnel, but even that means it is serving the purpose of helping your customer discover and enjoy the benefits that your product or service provides. But this is better achieved by creating specific landing pages – but more about that another day.
Once you understand what it is you want your website to do then you can design it.
Let me segway for a bit and tell you a little story about getting teeth pulled. Bear with me, It does tie into what we’re discussing.
Should a Successful Dentist have a Website?
PS: you can replace “Dentist” with any business you want – what business are you in?
I had an interesting discussion with my local dentist just the other day. They don’t have a website, and being curious I enquired why.
The receptionist simply said that they are so busy that they are already booked out two months in advance and don’t need any new customers. Wow, I thought what a great business. But what made her think that by simply having a website would magically produce new customers out of thin air?
A website for this dentist could easily enhance the existing client relationship in so many ways. The website could offer patients access to downloadable aftercare information and fact sheets. This was our second visit and my daughter was having a fourth tooth pulled. Ouch! This procedure requires some specific aftercare to ensure it heals properly, and a simple downloadable flyer on their website would have made this easily accessible if the last one got lost somewhere. Not complicated, simple and adds value.
Their website could also provide valuable information about preventative dental care and the benefits of flossing, and how this pro-active dental care could significantly reduce their dental bills by stopping decay, and require less visits or less expensive visits to the dentist. This would also allow the dentist to service more clients and thus spread the risk when clients inevitably move on for whatever reason.
Or how about making their hours of operation super easy to find out by a simple google search on their mobile?
What about emergency aftercare, what do their patients need to do and where can they go to get assistance if the practice is closed?
You get the idea.
What if they hooked up their internal booking system to their website and allowed clients to book their own appointments online at any time of the day or night from their tablet, phone or PC, making the practice available essentially 24 x 7.
How about a monthly newsletter providing simple and effective hints and tips or reviewing the latest in tooth whitening products, or highlighting advances in pain free dentistry, or debunking common myths about dental hygiene.
These are all very simple ways to stay in front of your patients in between visits by adding value to the relationship.
So as you can see a website is NOT just about generating new customers, but also plays an essential part in maintaining and building client relationships, so that your customers believe and trust that you’re there for their best interests.
Risky Business
The risk to a business is that if you’re not staying in regular touch and continuing to build that client relationship then one day some one else will, and you won’t even see it happening.
Your clients lifestyles change over time. And even though they are with you today, unless you’re engaged with them by adding value, then they can very easily go to somewhere else tomorrow. If that happens, how are you going to replace them? Without a good marketing strategy you’re going to struggle.
Your Website Is An Integral Part Of A Marketing Strategy
Once you have decided what it is that your website is going to do for your customers then you can start to build it.
Keep in mind that your website is simply ANOTHER communication channel to interact and build a relationship with your customers – it is NOT the only channel.
Therefore, as part of your overall marketing plan you need to look at what other communication channels you want to use, and this depends on ‘where’ your customers are hanging out. So look at other channels including (but not limited to); email, direct (snail) mail, printed brochures, sms, social media sites, advertising in printed magazines/papers, radio, TV, blogging, podcasts, video. And of course the number one area you must concentrate on is social proof such as client referrals.
The Secret is…
You want to ensure that ALL of your communication channels direct your customers and prospects back to your website. It’s here that you need to earn their trust and obtain their permission to stay in touch with them. One of the primary goals of your website should be to collect email addresses and then use your marketing strategy website to engage with them at the appropriate times when you can add value to the relationship.
It’s only when you have all of your marketing communications channels strategically working together that your website can become a silver bullet to your marketing efforts.
