Own a business but no website?
Today, this is as if you never existed.
Two of the first elements you need to exist in the digital world are a website and a social media presence. It doesn’t matter if you are a ‘solopreneur’ or a company with a consolidated team.
The following are the main reasons why we think you should have a website.
1. Showcase your products or services:
As my mother used to say, “you don’t sell what you don’t show.” She wasn´t referring to this specific context but we can leave that aside for a moment.
That’s life, you can’t get anyone interested in what you have to offer unless you show it.
To achieve this in your business, you need something visually attractive which meets your ideal client’s expectations and gets their attention.
Follow these first guidelines to have an appealing website:
A) Good design
This does not mean that you should hire an award-winning graphic designer to create something exquisite and unique. It means aiming for a good structure which helps people read and digest the information you want them to remember.
- Use titles and subtitles to sort information
- Use bullet points
- Add photos and/or illustrations
- Embrace white space, especially between paragraphs
- Focus on one particular piece of information in each paragraph
“6.” Avoid this:
B) Excellent photographs and/or illustrations:
Photograph the products:
This is mandatory if you sell products.
Hire a good photographer who can provide a good environment (ideally a studio) where you can take several pictures of each product you want to showcase.
And if you’re selling services, the product is you and your team, so you need good pictures of you too. Pictures from your last party (corporate or otherwise) won´t cut it.
When it comes to services, it is more difficult to convey the content of your work in a few images. Try to use inspiring images or photographs which communicate the benefits of your services to your clients.
Use “lifestyle” pictures:
This type of picture is widely used in social networks as it allows you to see how the products look while they are in use or in a more ordinary context. It also enables you to associate the product with others, for example if you sell shoes, take pictures of the full look.
Before starting a photo session, don’t forget to think first about your brand identity, message and tone, and the image you want to convey.
What are the keywords that could define your brand? For example, quality, trust, comfort?
Try to find the words you want your company to be associated with and use elements in your images that incorporate these concepts.
C) Good texts:
Despite the increase in popularity of videos, the written word is still the predominant way of delivering information to potential customers.
Writing good content helps build strong relationships, share the information being sought and position products or services.
- Talk about benefits rather than features. Your prospective customers don’t care about most of the details of your offer. The important thing for them is to understand how it will help them get the changes they are looking for.
- Less is more: this is not something new. Today, people search for information quickly, especially when they have to sift through a lot of text. That’s why you need to focus on the fundamentals of your business. Your potential customers don’t need to know the smallest details about your product or service.
2. Build trust
A) Share testimonials
One of the best ways to promote trust in your company is to have other people praise your work. It goes without saying that this beats self promoting yourself as the best or an expert in this or that field!
Here is an example on our website:
“Finelis met the conceptual and practical requirements of the sales team located in Zurich and London. The team learned a lot about state-to-the-art sales skills and methodologies. Thanks again for your valuable input.”
Willi Brammertz – Founder
People attach a lot of importance to what others have to say about a product or service. This makes testimonials immensely valuable.
If you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to ask current or past clients with whom you have had great results to send you a brief testimonial. Request their permission to use it on the website and in social media.
B) Tell your story
Your website is a good place to tell your story.
Share your origin story, and why you are in business. Everyone has their own adventure. Doing so gives you the opportunity to connect with readers who may well buy from you because they relate to your experience and are sympathetic to your brand.
It seems obvious but people connect with other people. It is not about logos or products. Brands infused with their team’s personality are more human and succeed at creating bonds with clients.
Use your website as a hub for your content. It is your main communication channel, from where everything starts.
3. Having a website today is neither hard nor expensive
Not that long ago, the thought of having a website was daunting. Without technical knowledge or time to learn about it and taking a leap of faith, you were destined to face new recurring costs in development, maintenance and support in your budget.
Today, tools like Divi or Elementor for WordPress enable you to build beautiful websites at a very affordable price (even Elementor free can be enough).
Some technical knowledge is still required, but with the right people to guide you, you can easily take on most of the work to reduce content creation, maintenance and support costs and avoid asking and having to pay someone every time you need to change an image or add some content. (If you need someone to take care of your website, be sure to contact us!)
4. Be in control of your own stage
You can’ t deny that social media is exceedingly important, but don’ t let it be your only vector of communication. There is a simple argument for that: you do not own your platform.
Relying solely on social media for all of your digital assets is risky. Even the biggest hits can fade in popularity in a matter of weeks. Your business could easily outlive most of them, do you really want to spend all of your time and energy on a platform that may require you to start over after a few years or even months?
For this simple reason, using your website as your main hub of information, centralizing activity on it and even directing your social media content to it is essential.
5. Position your business
A website is an effective showcase. It is your main tool to provide information about your business, a good place to talk about your brand and its products or services.
In addition to that, one crucial aspect of having a website is its ability to help you reach potential clients. Some businesses can live without using their website’s full potential to organically and autonomously attract new leads but in order to thrive, optimizing your content for search engines is key.
This is what really makes having a website stand out compared to any other digital tool. Get serious on SEO, look for the best keywords to position your website so that prospects find you more easily.
6. Call your clients to action
It may sound strange but telling people what to do improves your conversion rate.
Use “call-to-action” (CTAs or buttons) in your website that incite your audience to take action and eventually subscribe to your community.
You can offer some valuable content like a webinar or a checklist in order to facilitate your visitor’s transformation into a member of your community. You will then be able to deliver them even more value through email.
Keep in mind an important rule when drafting your CTA’s text: avoid the old “read more” or “click here” as much as possible. These are too simple to make your readers feel concerned by the action you are expecting from them.
Instead, write in first person, use the affirmative form and try to describe what your visitor is going to achieve by clicking. For instance: “Yes, I want my gift”.
Conclusion
In a few words, we can say that having your own website today is simple, affordable and necessary.
The Internet is the best way to make yourself known, and for that, a “digital home” is needed where people can go in search of information.
Don’t let time pass by, the faster you get on top of that topic the sooner you will reap its benefits!
María del Carmen M.
Digital Marketing Director