by cmsdudes | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog
If you don’t have a website, you’re missing out on potential business and you are losing business to your competitors. Why? The first thing that people do when they are looking for a product or service is to do a search online. Whether they are using their smartphone, tablet or computer, they’ll go to Google and do a search.
What happens if you don’t have a website? NOTHING – because you don’t have an online presence. For this reason alone, you need a website. It’s just part of doing business today.
Many of you may be asking, “But does my business/industry really need a website?” No matter which business you are in, the answer is YES! Whether you’re a home contractor, plumber, mechanic, or even a local coffee shop, you need to have an online presence if you want people to find you online, and if you want people to contact you about your products and services.
8 Reasons You Should Already Have a Website
There are also many other reasons why you need a professional website:
- Your competitors already have a website – you should too!
- It makes it easier for your customers to find you
- It can help improve your online presence, SEO, and help you get on the first page of Google search results
- People expect you to have a website – it’s an instant credibility factor
- It allows you to provide information about your company offerings around the clock
- It is a great customer service tool and allows you to provide customer support
- A website is one of the most valuable marketing tools
- It help you become an authority in your local industry and become an industry expert
What a Website Provides Small Businesses
Investing in a website can pay off in many ways, including:
- More leads and customers
- Greater overall awareness about your brand
- A place to build relationships with your customers
- The ability to collect information about website visitors and customers (you can use this information to refine your marketing campaigns)
- A place to communicate your key differentiators and sell online
What You Shouldn’t Expect From Your Website
There are also some misconceptions about websites that you need to be aware of. Websites, like any other area of your business, require attention if you want them to be successful and yield the results you want. They are not a “set it and forget it” thing. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect immediate results and a huge spike in inquires on the first day your website goes live. It takes time to build website traffic, generate leads, and work your way up the Google search rankings. It takes careful planning, a good web design, and a strong marketing strategy – all things we can help you with.
Are you ready to build a website? Is it time for a redesign? Want to boost your search engine rankings? Site Dudes can help you with all of this and more. Contact us today to get started and learn more about our web design services.
by cmsdudes | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog
Having a great website is vital in today’s business environment. Having a strong online presence is just as important as other aspects of your business. Your customers are online, and you need to be online too.
Building a website is only part of the equation if you want to improve your brand presence online. You have to fill your website with great content that will not only engage website visitors, but also provide them with the information they are looking for. You’ve probably heard it before, and we are going to say it again – content is king!
3 Tips For Creating Great Website Content
Because we are cool “site” dudes, we’ve put together three great tips to help ensure you have the right content on your website:
1. Include Original And Unique Content On The Site
Everything you put on your website needs to be unique and original content. One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make is copying content from other websites. This is not only a copyright violation; it can hurt your business in other ways:
- It could negatively impact your search engine rankings
- The content may not be aligned with your brand
- It can hurt your credibility
- It could cause website visitors to disengage and leave your website
Taking the time to write high quality and original content – content that is aligned with your branding and marketing messages will improve the overall quality of your website.
How do you do this?
Write with your customers in mind. What are the types of information they would look for online? What are some of the common questions they ask you? What information can you offer that you think will help them?
Answering these questions will give you lots of ideas for the type of content you should be including on your website.
The truth is that no one wants to read the stale and regurgitated content that shows up all over the web. Write content that is catchy, engaging, and content that will encourage your customers to spend more time on your website, read your pages and contact you about your services.
2. Have Recent Project Photos
As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words and with the web moving toward being more visual, the importance of having recent project photos on your site is only becoming more vital, especially if you work in the skilled trades, construction and renovation, or other industries where your customers will want to see proof of your quality of work.
Telling people you are great a home renovations is one thing, but showing them examples of what you can do for them is the key to selling them on your services and getting them to call you for a quote.
However, you don’t want to have too many photos either – adding too many photos could slow down your website, and let’s be honest, you are better off displaying images of your very best work – not everything you do. Use photos to highlight what you can do.
3. Provide Complete And Accurate Contact Information
Providing accurate contact information on your website is vital. If customers can’t find your phone number, how do you expect them to contact you, let alone, want to do business with your company!
A common mistake made by small businesses is they only include contact information on their contact page. Since you don’t know what page visitors will enter your website, it’s best to have contact information on all your website pages. Include your company phone number, email, and a link to your contact page at the top and bottom of every page.
The easier you make it for customers to find your contact information, the more likely they will be to contact you. Don’t expect your customers to spend time looking for your contact information, because they won’t.
If you follow these three tips, you will be well on your way to improving the content on your website and creating a more engaging place for your customers.
Not too keen on writing? No problem! Site Dudes has you covered. We can help you with all your content, website design, and online marketing needs!
Contact Site Dudes To Improve Your Small Business Website!
Are you ready to build a website? Is it time for a redesign? Want to boost your search engine rankings? Site Dudes can help you with all of this and more. Contact us today to get started and learn more about our web design services.
by cmsdudes | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog
Is Your Website Mobile Friendly? It Should Be!
Having a mobile friendly website is a must today, especially since Google updated its algorithm to include mobile responsiveness as a ranking factor. What does this mean for your business? If you don’t have a mobile friendly website, you could lose out on mobile search traffic, see your mobile search rankings drop, and lose out on new customers.
Most Websites Are NOT Mobile Friendly
The truth is that many companies don’t have a mobile friendly website and if you haven’t redesigned your website within the last 5 years, there is a good chance your website is not mobile friendly either. Not sure if your website is mobile friendly? Contact us today – we are happy to take a look for you.
The Majority of Search Traffic Comes From Mobile Search
While you may still be getting good traffic and search engine rankings through desktop searches, more than 60% of website traffic now comes from mobile devices, and this number is only going to rise. So, if you don’t have a website that is mobile responsive, it’s time for an upgrade before it starts to have a significant impact on your overall web presence.
The Benefits Of Mobile Friendly Websites
Your customers are using their Smartphones, Tablets and mobile devices to search and shop online. This includes visiting your website. Mobile friendly websites make it easier for them to find you when they search on their mobile devices.
Here are the key benefits of investing in a mobile friendly website:
- Higher search ranking: A mobile friendly website design will help you rank higher in Google mobile search rankings, creating more presence for your company online.
- Faster load times: Mobile friendly web design helps your website load faster, creating a better overall user experience for people visiting your website using a mobile device. If you site takes too long to load, people will leave and you could potentially lose a customer.
- Greater accessibility: Customers will have greater access to your website when using it on a mobile device. You will also ensure that people can find your website no matter what type of technology they use to search.
- Simple maintenance: Over the long term, mobile responsive websites are easier to maintain and you will have less website related issues when fixing bugs and updating SEO campaigns.
- More sales: People are increasingly using their phones and other mobile devices to make purchases. They also use their mobile devices to research potential purchases. Mobile sites ensure you capture this website traffic and help you convert them to sales.
- Competitive advantage: If you have a mobile friendly website and your competitors do not, you will have a competitive advantage in terms of SEO, online presence, and search engine rankings. Beat them to it by updating your website today!
Are you ready to make your website mobile friendly? Learn more about our website packages and pricing.
Read More About The Importance Of A Strong Web Presence
What Your Site Can Do For You
3 Tips For Creating Great Website Content
Why Your Small Business Needs a Website
by cmsdudes | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog
In business, there are two main types of customers – New customers and existing customers.
The problem is that most companies focus too much on acquiring new customers that they lose existing customers, leaving money on the table – missing out on easy sales.
Many businesses get so focused on trying to attract new customers that they forget to pay attention to a very important segment of their customer base – the customers you already have.
Your website is likely a perfect example of this situation. Its set up to attract new business, but where it falls short is providing value and reasons for your existing customers to continue to buy from you.
Why Are Existing Customers So Important?
Existing customers are one of your most fruitful revenue streams. Here’s why:
- You already have a relationship with them
- They have already purchased your products/services
- They are likely to buy from you again
- You already have their information and you can market directly to them
Therefore, your website should NOT just be a tool to generate new clients. Its purpose is twofold: It needs to have the ability to attract new clients while also nurturing your relationship with your existing customer base.
Remember that even though existing customers may have purchased from you in the past, it doesn’t mean they will come back. If they feel ignored or they feel like you are not providing them with good enough after sale service, they’ll go elsewhere. You need to give them a reason to become a returning customer.
How To Target Existing Clients With Your Website
Your website should be a place where your existing customers visit regularly. Each time they visit it is an opportunity for you to further your relationship with them and convert them into a repeat customer. Many of your customers right now are probably on the fence about whether or not to purchase your products/services.
What are you doing to earn their business and earn their trust?
Here are some ways to target existing customers and keep them coming back:
- Including testimonials on your site
- Providing photos or samples of your work
- Providing useful information in the form of articles, blog posts
- Engaging existing customers on social media
- Making it easier for them to make additional purchases
- Offer exclusive deals on your website for existing customers
A Repeat Visit To Your Website Is An Opportunity For A Sale
Targeting existing customers, gaining their trust through your website is just common sense. The more frequently existing clients visit your website, the more trusting relationship you will have, and more likely to make a purchase from you than your competition.
Contact Site Dudes To Turn Existing Clients Into Paying Customers
Your website can be used for more than just attracting new clients, it can help you keep the clients you already have. Contact Site Dudes today to explore your options to enhance your website capabilities.
Learn More About The Importance of Websites
3 Tips For Creating Great Website Content
Why Your Small Business Needs a Website
by cmsdudes | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog
One of the most important functions of search engine optimization (SEO) is to increase visibility in search results. This makes it easier for customers to find your business when searching for your products of services. Prospects are more likely to visit your website the higher you rank on a search engine results page (SERP).
Organic search is a huge part of most business’ website traffic, as well as a critical component of the buyer funnel, ultimately getting users to complete a conversion or engagement. The overall goal of SEO is to improve a website’s overall searchability and visibility
Different studies have put the traffic share of the first position at around 33%, with the second position getting around 15% of share, and 9% going to position number three. At a minimum, 75% of clicks go to the first page of search results, while up to 30% of all results on page one below position five and those that appear on page two don’t get clicked at all.
The Search Engines
The top three search engines are:
- Google
- Bing
- Yahoo
Google alone processes over 40,000 search queries every second. That adds up to 3.5 billion searches every day and 1.2 trillion searches each year.
According to the latest net market share report (January 2018) 74.52% of searches were powered by Google and only 7.98% by Bing.
The vast majority of clicks go to natural organic listings by as much as 94%. Furthermore, for every 100 clicks, 38.5 clicks are organic on mobile, and 65.6 on desktop.
The Challenge of Ranking on Google
Google is constantly updating its algorithm and no one knows for sure which factors impact rankings. Indeed, Google uses more than 255 factors in their ranking algorithm.
What we do know is that Google is obsessed with providing their users with the best experience possible. Many businesses want better organic rankings and maximum visibility. Few realize that optimal user experience is a big part of getting there. This means that you need to establish a strong website foundation with a clean, effective user experience, making it easily discoverable in search.
What Does Google Look For?
Many experts claim the five most important areas are:
- Content
- Authority
- Backlinks
- Mobile first user experience
- SSL Secure website
Content
Concentrate on creating useful and engaging content that delivers a great user experience. The more valuable your content, the more your chances of success increase.
Authority
Establishing a brand as an authority takes patience, effort, and commitment, but also relies on offering a valuable, quality product or service that allows customers to trust a brand.
Backlinks
In general, a link from a site is regarded as a vote for the quality of your site. More importantly, Google wants to ensure that actions on third-party sites do not negatively affect a website. In some circumstances, incoming links can affect Google’s opinion of a page or site. You want to remove as many ‘spammy’ links as possible.
Mobile first
Starting last year, Google moved to make the mobile version of your website the starting point for what Google includes in their index and the baseline for how they determine rankings. In the past, the desktop version was used as the baseline. Therefore, lack of a mobile-friendly experience could impact negatively on the ranking of your site. At a minimum, make sure your website is responsive to mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, and that your website loads in three seconds or less.
Security
Beginning in 2014, Google has used HTTPS as a ranking signal. Now, Google has officially warned website owners that non HTTPS sites would incur consumer messaging that identified the site as non-secure. You don’t want this message appearing on your website, so make sure it is secure with an SSL Certificate.
The Long-Term Benefits of SEO
It takes time to rank organically. In fact it may take more than a year. But once you see the amount of traffic natural search can generate, you will understand that the effort and time is more than worth it. You will find that the cost is relatively low when compared to paid search marketing. What’s more, your rankings can live in search long after a paid campaign ends. People tend to trust organic results more than paid. Potential customers will reward your brand with high credibility. Most importantly your business will experience more leads and sales with a search engine optimized website.
Read More About The Importance Of A Strong Web Presence
What Your Site Can Do For You
3 Tips For Creating Great Website Content
Why Your Small Business Needs a Website
