Even though most companies like yours do the majority of their business over the phone or in person rather than online, having a Website is an essential step to getting in front of potential customers in your service area. Nowadays, your Website is your most valuable marketing tool.
Companies that don’t have a Website lack credibility and miss out on the growing number of customers that do online research before hiring a provider. In one report, researchers found that 63% of consumers primarily use a business’s Website to find and engage with a local service. In other words, businesses without a Website are missing out.
If your company has a Website ‘ great, you’ve passed step one. If you’re going to stand out among the pack, however, it’s going to take some effort to set your business apart. If you want to close more deals and beat out your competition, here are three ways to make your Website stand out from the rest:
1. Provide Educational Content
There’s a lot on a customer’s mind when they search for a local provider. They want to know if your business can solve their problem, if they can trust you and if you know what you’re talking about. This is where it helps to provide educational content about your industry.
Your content can take the form of blog posts, FAQs or pages with detailed information about your services. This helps win over savvy shoppers who like to know as much as they can about a topic until they close on a deal. Featuring this educational material on your Website will do the following:
- Establish your company as an industry expert
- Create a relationship between the customer and your business where they know they can trust you without any sales pitches
- Help customers make an empowered decision they can feel good about, rather than a skeptical choice stemming from sales tactics
Looking for some inspiration on relevant topics in your industry? Check out this resource for some examples of popular topics that your clients will find relevant!
2. Use Personalized Visual Media
Another way to get in front of your competitors is by posting visual content that is unique and personalized. When perusing a series of Websites, there’s two ends of the spectrum that Websites tend to fall in. On one end, there are Websites with low quality images of their office and equipment taken by an older camera. On the other end, you’ll find Websites clearly using stock images throughout, with no distinguishing visuals. The key is to find a spot in the middle ground that combines quality and personalization.
Enlisting the help of a professional photographer (or even someone with a great camera) to take some photos of your office and team is a great way to let your customers know that they’re dealing with real people. Customers will have an easier time trusting a company with personalized media than they will with a cookie-cutter template site. Have a professional put together a Company Video for your Website. According to Google, more than half of Internet users look for videos related to a service before contacting the company. Video content is an awesome way to explain to your audience who you are and what you do. Sure, your Website is able to do that as well, but a personalized video will be able to do so in a way that is quick, fun, and convenient for your Website visitors.
3. Give Calls-To-Action
There’s more to a quality Website than great content. User experience should always be the first thing on your mind when evaluating your Website, which is why it’s key to include a Call-To-Action (CTA). Typically in the form of a button, CTAs guide your Website’s visitors through your site.
For example, maybe you want your visitors to check out the different packages you offer. You should feature a button that stands out and says ‘View Our Service Packages!’ This button should link to you Services Page, effectively making the user experience friendlier for a potential customer. To seal the deal, you can place another CTA on the Services page that says ‘Request Service,’ which links out to a contact form. From a marketing standpoint, you’ve strategically laid out a path that converts curious shoppers to customers.
When it comes to your Website, quality design and content will yield noticeable results in the long run. It’s not enough to simply exist online anymore; you also have to be able to stand out. And there’s no better way to stand out than by building a Website that is well-designed and full of smart, personal content. Online searchers don’t settle for less, so neither should you.
