In a world that's always connected, there are many ways that businesses can promote their offerings and reach potential buyers on the internet. At the very least, it is expected that businesses large and small have a company website.
Having a company website is imperative for the overall success of your business. It helps your business increase its customer base through promoting your products or services, it puts you on equal footing with your competition, and it offers other benefits as well, including increased credibility.
Understanding your target audience and their needs should be the foundation of your website.
To build an invaluable online presence, your first step is to understand your key audiences and why they are compelled to visit your website. Once you identify these different audiences and their motivations, you can then use various marketing tactics and tools to increase the visibility of your company to these consumers and enhance the overall performance of your website.
Let's dive deeper into a few key strategies: lead generation forms, site widgets, paid advertising platforms and other internet-based best practices.
To reach and convert leads into customers, implement these 4 strategies.
Use lead generation forms to understand customer needs.
Lead generation forms are a common way consumers can request information about a product or service online. These can be questionnaires or click-through forms where a consumer enters his or her personal data and/or contact info for follow-up purposes.
Having a lead generation form on your website offers two distinct benefits for your business. One, it delivers qualified leads for your sales team. These are consumers with a genuine interest in your product or service. Two, lead generation forms provide valuable data in other forms. For instance, they could help you understand consumers better, such as how or where they are learning about your products or services, or it can help you identify areas of your website, e.g., site navigation, that could be improved.
Lead gen forms typically ask for more than a name and e-mail address – this information helps to personalize the follow-up and makes the prospective customer feel important – but it is vital to understand what works and what doesn't with the information you request.
Asking for too much info may scare a potential customer away, but not asking enough information lessens the chance of a successful follow-up sale. When designing your lead gen form, it's important to balance your objectives with the needs and wishes of your target customer – your form should allow you to capture enough info that you understand the customer's needs without potentially scaring customers away.
Ensure your website is compatible across all platforms.
Everyone has a different level of understanding when it comes to using the internet. That's why your website should be simple, straightforward and easy to navigate.
Navigating throughout the site should be smooth – information should be easy to find, and it should be helpful, not overwhelming. You can ensure a pleasant user experience by testing out variants to understand what is most convenient and comfortable for your website's visitor. Check the functionality of forms, links and any other relevant site content. How helpful is the information? Do your forms load quickly? How helpful are the links and related content? Do they persuade consumers to make a buying decision about your products or services?
Keep in mind that people visit your website using different devices. Don't design your website for online shoppers on their desktops; many people will access your site from a smartphone or tablet. The user experience must be fluid for both desktops and mobile devices.
If someone reaches your website on a browser/device your site isn't optimized for, they will judge your business accordingly. They may think your business is outdated, and they may leave your site for a competitor's site that offers a better user experience.
Offer live chat and/or community engagement opportunities.
Visitors to your site will likely have a few questions. Make it easy for your customers to find the answer to their questions or to post their question and get a quick answer.
A FAQs page is one effective option; however, there are many other ways to engage visitors and ensure that their questions are answered. Many people feel more comfortable reaching out somewhat anonymously to a company. Consider using a chatbot, for instance, to provide answers to common questions consumers have about your product or service. Create a community page where people can post their questions or experiences with your company, or another option is to add live chat to your website.
Having the opportunity to connect with your company and talk with someone (even other customers) demonstrates your commitment to customers and lessens the chance of miscommunication or misinformation on the site. There are other benefits, too, including that it can provide your business with valuable feedback, such as if consumers have a common misunderstanding about your product. Perhaps the best benefit though is that it demonstrates transparency with your customers.
Implement paid advertising to drive traffic to your website.
Once you have a beautiful, engaging website, make sure people see it! Paid advertising is an excellent way to direct more traffic to your website. This style of advertising comprises inserting ads (which link back to your website) into the content of another site, matching the content's look and feel.
While your website may be set up very well, you will benefit significantly from the addition of network traffic. Network trafficking sites can help you generate the clicks and impressions that introduce a broader community to your website. Due to the number of platforms that provide network advertising opportunities, this is a marketing tool with limitless opportunity to grow your business.
At business.com, we utilize all of these tactics to help our business and the businesses we work with. As a digital media company and B2B web destination, we know how important it is to digitize your business. It is essential to engage your audience and create a natural and secure manner of communication between you and your customers.
Following these tips will help boost your business and market your website the right way.