It seems like everyone has a website these days. From granny selling her knit doilies to Fortune 500 companies and everyone in between, the internet is our place to inform the world about who we are and what we’re doing.
If you’re a small business owner, one of your first instincts might be that you need a website (and I would agree). The question to ask yourself is WHY you need a website. The most simple answer is to get more customers, but how does that work?
Attract, Convert, Retain
When someone is searching for a business like yours, they will likely:
- Google it (or Bing it or Yahoo! it)
- Use a service like Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Houzz, etc
Once you attract them to your site, they can see examples of your work and read about who you are as a company and what makes you unique. All of that is good stuff, but the most important thing on your site is the conversion form! What’s a conversion form? Well, there are a few different kinds, but the two most prominent are:
- A form requesting a quote or contact from a representative
- A form offering something in exchange for your email address
Conversion forms help you convert searchers into potential clients. Of course you can hope that visitors to your site will pick up the phone and call, but more than half will not. Once they have converted, you can retain them with ongoing communication.
There are all kinds of other important things to have on your site, especially if you are a service area business where you travel to your clients’ houses to do your work. These would be plumbers, electricians, contractors, cleaners, caterers, and a whole host of others. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is particularly challenging for these types of companies. We’ll talk about why that is and why SEO is so important next time.
Questions? Ready to Get Started?
If you have questions or would like to get started, please give us a call at (312) 834-7787 or visit our website to request a free quote and consultation.