Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
December 26, 2012 at 02:58 PM
I shouldn’t have to preach the importance of marketing your business online; especially today, where thanks to major search engines like Google and Bing, we have the instant gratification of the Internet at our fingertips. Creating a website for your business is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough. With these four tips you can take your site from a plain virtual business card to a lean, mean, lead-generating machine.
1. Put in what you wish to get out.
First off, stop thinking of it as just a website and start thinking of it as your partner in business. He works around the clock, serving as a valuable source of information and promotion to your customers — before, during and after business hours. He also helps generate profit for your company by pushing leads down the sales pipeline. If you aren’t investing in your website, you are essentially telling consumers that you don’t really believe in your products or services. Whether you decide to hire a professional SEO agency or you’re self-taught, a top-shelf insurance website will show potential leads that you are not a spam robot; in fact you are successful, credible and confident in your business.
2. Design for conversion.
Everything from content to color schemes (and much more) must be taken into account when designing a high-powered and engaging website. Most of the time, your site is the first thing leads will see when researching products and services, and within seconds of landing on the home page they will decide if they’d like to do business with you. Catch their eye with colors that pop and natural navigation that leads them through the sales funnel. Don’t clutter your site with icons, images and verbiage that distract from your ultimate message. Take a test drive around your own website. Can you quickly identify the key features of your service without having to scroll all the way down or click around a dozen times? If the site is not incredibly easy to navigate, chances are you will lose that lead.
3. Speak their language.
Once you have identified and gotten familiar with your target customer, focus on speaking their language. At this point you should know the basic demographic you are marketing to and how your product or service benefits them. What is their life like and how can you make it easier? This is where good content comes in. Aside from grabbing a lead’s attention once they hit the site, your copy should clearly identify the key features of your business and how it will help your customer. Prioritize your content, keeping the most important information toward the top. People have extremely short attention spans! If you have lots of content, try breaking it up into smaller subheadings, bullet points or numbers, so as not to overwhelm readers.
