Your small business may have a beautiful website, but do you have a useful one? If you’re unable to generate leads, sales, or even just keep people interested, your website design may lack critical marketing features. In this week’s episode of the enVisioning Success podcast Ugly Funnels Work Better Than Pretty Ones, co-hosts Laura and Julia talk about the importance of functionality over aesthetics in business. Today, we’re tackling how to apply that to small business websites.
What Website Design Forgets About Customers
With out-of-the-box websites such as Wix or Squarespace and some nice stock photography, any small business can have a good-looking website. However, the quality of a website isn’t about form but function, and the function is turning browsers of your websites into buyers of your products. A website needs to: provide a clear understanding of what your business does; how they can take action; and provide easy options to seal the deal. If a website’s beauty hinders that, such as not providing clarity, looking pretty but being hard to navigate, or simply lacking convenient actions for the customer to take, you’ve got a problem.
Key Marketing Features for Your Website
When it comes to websites, marketing is all about two things: bringing people to your website (via email, social media, SEO, etc.) and, once they are there, getting them to take action, aka the sales funnel.
- Strong Calls to Action: Calls to Action (CTA) give customers clear options on how to use your services, and they are more than just “buy my stuff.”
- Constant Updates: A website is a living thing; it needs to be updated as things change, from products to people you’re selling to. Make sure website maintenance is part of your plan.
- Better Landing Pages: Sometimes, you’ll need website pages that are customized for certain demographics, products, or services. These are landing pages, which are especially important with ads.
- Testing & Conversions: You should be testing everything, from forms to connections to email marketing and tracking successes. Your website should grow alongside your business.
About the enVisioning Success Podcast
This article is based on topics discussed in enVisioning Success, our weekly podcast hosted by Vision Advertising CEO Laura DiBenedetto and COO Julia Becker Collins. In it, they discuss all things business and marketing, from lead generation to leadership. Find us on PodBean to download from your platform of choice, or subscribe to our mailing listto get new episodes and other news delivered directly to your inbox. Interested in working with Vision Advertising? Learn more about our services and contact us today.
