“Why isn’t my website bringing in leads” is the most common complaint heard from people when they are looking for a new web designer.  In many cases, you may not have to redo your whole website.  In fact, just redesigning your website may not fix the problem at all if not done correctly.  Here are some steps you can take to start getting in front of more viewers and get the leads your business needs.

Run an SEO Audit on your Website

First thing is to check your current website to ensure that it has all the necessary on-page SEO and that it is done correctly.  This will also check for any broken links, how fast your site loads, the number of viable backlinks and more.  All of these have a factor in how Google and other search engines rank you in listings. Have no idea how to do this?  Click here for a  free website/SEO audit.

If you have a large amount of SEO errors or are using a DIY website generator, you may not be able to fix your current site enough to make a difference.  If you do not have the time and experience to understand current Google search algorithms and/or your current website engine is not robust enough, it may be time to find a reputable web designer.

Check Your Website’s Design

Compare your website to your best competitors and see if the design and overall structure is as appealing as theirs (and ideally more).  Check for websites in other states to see if there are others that look better than yours.  Ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of your site? Do you just need a landing page that gives an overview of your business with an easy way to contact you or do you need to sell products or services online?

• Who is your target audience?  If you are offering financial advice, you are not going to have a website with whimsical colors or fonts, but you may if you are advertising your daycare facility.

• Is it clean and easy to navigate?

• Are there clear CTAs (Call to Action) so that potential customers can reach you easily?

• Are your images clear, royalty-free, and interesting to others?

• Is your business focus easy to understand and clearly show exactly how your business stands out from the others?

• Is your website structure easy to maneuver and all the content well organized?

• Which type of devices will your audience be using? Mobile usage is increasing daily so all sites need to be all-device responsive.

• What keywords do potential customers use when searching for you online?

• Who is your biggest competition and why? 

• Do you need any other special features like a scheduling system, client management system, inventory controls or anything else to help you run your business efficiently?

Website design done well will be simple but compelling.  You want someone to quickly see what your business is and get them intrigued to learn more.  Your business should immediately stand out.  The better your website looks and reads, the more a potential customer trusts that you will put the same effort in the product or service you offer. 

Be sure to check a web designer’s portfolio to see if that is all true in their previous work.  Is each company’s website unique and striking?  Do they make you want to learn more?

You should also have a list of questions to ask your potential website designer to ensure you have the right one for your business:  Click here to see a suggested list of questions.

Your Website is Up to Par…Now What?

If you are among the fortunate few that already have a great website that is appearing in Google Searches and it is clear and professional, but you are still only reaching a portion of potential leads. Here are some other things to consider.

Do You Have Quality Backlinks?

Backlinks (also known as local citations) will help people and businesses find you on multiple sites and is thought to raise your overall SEO score so Google ranks you higher quicker.  However, if your information is not exactly the same on every backlink, your business may be tagged as inconsistent and this can hurt your rankings.  Likewise, if you are in lower quality backlinks, this may also rank your business lower. 

If performing backlinks processing yourself, you will need to find every occurrence on the internet and ensure all information is exactly the same.  If you decide to hire a professional, ensure that your changes are permanent as some will only keep your changes if you continue to pay a monthly fee. 

Charlotte’s Web Designs, LLC offers a service that will scour every mention of your business, change everything so that it’s consistent, research the best, quality backlinks for your business, and add them permanently for a one time fee.  Reach out here to learn more.

How is Your Branding?

Branding is what makes your business stand out from the others and remain memorable.  It is not just a logo or slogan - branding is the way your clients or customers see you.  A good brand invokes trust and highlights positive aspects of your business: reliability, experience, creativity, accountability, customer service, etc.  Unless you have a background in marketing and branding in particular, branding is best left up to professionals who can work with you to ensure your branding is communicating effectively and memorably.

The logo should be simple and relevant to your brand. This is not the time to have an elaborate or confusing design.  Think of the most successful and recognizable logos: the Nike swoosh, Apple’s apple with a bite taken out, or FedEx’s simple two-toned name. 

Color play an important part of conveying your brand.  Red is attention getting but can be overwhelming, blue inspires trust, and green represents wellness. whether food-related or financial.  Click here to learn more about colors in branding.

Fonts should also be representative of your branding’s message. Serif fonts (like Baskerville, Didot, or Georgia) are more traditional and sophisticated while San Sarif fonts (like Helvetica, Avenir, or Verdana) are more modern and humanistic.  Slab Sarif fonts (like Clarendon, Josefin, or Museo) are more contemporary or trendy and Script fonts (like Edwardian, Snell Roundhand, or Zapfino) are more elegant and formal.

Your branding should also include a great, memorable TAGLINE like “Have it your way” or “Just do it”.

A great brand should immediately attract people to what your product or service offers and then give them a sense of belonging.  It is important to remember that a good product or service generates customers, but a great brand generates advocates.

Keyword-Targeted Landing Pages

How is Your Social Media Presence?

About 35% of the customers claim that they are influenced by retailer’s social media presence.  The first question to ask is, are you on all the right platforms to attract your target customers?  Here are the main ones:

• Facebook is the largest and most used social media platform in the world. It offers a variety of tools to build your online brand presence and has extensive advertising options.  Facebook appeals to the widest variety of users so both B2B and B2C businesses can benefit.

• Instagram is visual and nearly 50% of all businesses already have a presence on it.  Instagram is used by over 500 million users, with 90% being under 30.  It also has the highest engagement rate - nearly 10 times more than Facebook.

• Twitter allows you to quickly get a message out about your business and get immediate feedback. It is often used to build brand awareness by sharing related tweets.  For example, check out @Nike.  They use the Twitter platform to shed awareness on social matters, human rights, and other causes.  Once of the best features of Twitter?  Businesses can post as much as they want - in fact, the more the better.

• Over 4 billion Youtube videos are viewed every day! From “how-to’s” to other types of videos, Youtube videos are now appearing more than ever in top Google searches.  Over 65% of all people are visual learners so a video may be the best way to get your message across.

• Pinterest is one of the largest website traffic drivers because of its visual impact and being a source of inspiration.  If you have a product or service that photographs well (and most do), then Pinterest could work very well for you creating quality leads.  The majority of viewers are women and most use it as research for an upcoming project. 

• LinkedIn is one of the best places to showcase your Business to Business product or service.  A LinkedIn presence can solidify your brand, add credibility, and build traffic to your website. It offers an unique way to communicate directly with potential leads and offers great networking possiblities

• TikTok has over 500 million users and that number is rising exponentially.  It is the most downloaded app in the world and users access it multiple times throughout the day. Over 65% are under 30 years old which means there is a surprising 35% over 30 years old.  One of the biggest benefit of TikTok for businesses is that ads do not have to look like standard advertising.  The fact is that Generation Z viewers tend to hate traditional ads and use ad-blockers extensively so your other paid social media ads are not even reaching them.

Consistent branding on all chosen social media platforms is key to building brand awareness and trust.  The most important part is keeping a schedule and sending out frequent appropriate posts for each platform. 

Each social media platform has its own 

• Facebook is friendly and neighborly

• Instagram is visual

• Twitter is best with social interest posts

• Youtube instructional videos do well

• Pinterest posts with beautiful “after” images bring interest

• LinkedIn professional posts invoke trust

• TikTok often uses humor and doesn’t take itself too seriously

Backlinks and Local Citations

A local citation is any mention of your business information in other websites, business directories, social networks, industry-specific sites, and even blogs.  They help search engines verify the existence, legitimacy, and trustworthiness of your business.  Popular sites include Yelp, Houzz, Yellow Pages and industry specific ones like lawyers.com.  If you have the time, you can look for and submit information manually, but researching the best sites is key.  Information submitted in poorly rated sites may actually hurt your rankings.  Also, unless every submission is exactly the same, you can also get flagged unfavorably. 

There are several services available to help.  If choosing one yourself, just be sure that your submission is permanent and won’t be removed once you stop paying a monthly fee.  

Website SEO

Even though your website is well laid out, the content reflects your business’ services or products in a positive light, and there are no obvious errors, your website may still not have the information it needs to be found on a search.  

• There should be at least 200 words on every website page in order not be flagged unfavorably

• Keywords must be strategically placed and headers used effectively

• All website pages, images and even certain sub-sections need onsite SEO

• images and graphics must be optimized to ensure that the site loads quickly

• The sitemap should be submitted to search engines

• Add quality content often so your website is considered relevant - a well-written blog works extremely well.

Find the Best Keywords for Your Business

Keywords are the words that people use to find you online. Google and other search engines use over 200 factors to determine your rank in their algorithm but using the right keywords is one of the most important pieces. The first step is finding the best keywords and phrases by auditing your competitors’ sites through a third party site auditor like Moz or Ubersuggest. This is a complex process as some keywords are already so commonplace that it is nearly impossible to rank for them. Smaller companies need to rely on longer specific phrases (long-tail keywords) which give a higher return.  Here are the steps:

• Identify the topics to focus on

• Identify keywords within the themes

• Research related themes for more opportunities

• Track head terms and long-tail keywords

Once you have a prioritized list, these keywords and phrases must be strategically placed in specific places on your website (like on your H1 and H2 headings or images) where the Googlebots know where to crawl. Your site will be deemed more authoritative and useful by Google’s algorithm, keeping your business’ climb up the search ranking scale steady.

Research, Research, Research

Using your website or social media analytics tools, you should be able to see the visitor demographics.  This should indicate who is not reaching out to you.  For example, if you are an estate planner or retirement specialist, you may not be attempting to reach 25-year-olds.  This is a missed opportunity worth pursuing since many of these younger workers just entering the workforce may be interested in long term retirement plans or they may be looking for information for their parents.

How do you find these groups that appear uninterested at first? 

• Find out why certain groups are not interested in what you do

• Determine if the non-interest is a result of a lack of knowledge about what you provide

• Check out what your competitors are doing to attract these new audiences

• Consider sending out a survey to a sample audience and get as much information as you can: their likes and dislikes, what social media platform are they on, where they live, where they work, etc.

Change Your Marketing Message

When it becomes evident that the marketing you were using is not reaching these other groups, it is time to change it up.   If you are trying to reach a younger demographic, try a little humor.  Trying to reach health-conscious folks?  Try using appropriate colors like green or natural elements in your advertising.  Try to reach a normally-skeptical group?  Use authoritative and professional colors like blue or gray and clearly state your experience and success in helping others out with a similar problem.

With COVID, marketing took a huge left turn.  Does your current marketing reflect the changes your business took to ensure your customers will be comfortable?  How will your marketing change again once COVID is less of a concern?

Offer Something That No One Else Does

Offering something unique and intriguing will get your business noticed.  Find that one thing that no one is doing right now.   This is known as inbound marketing and it is one of the most successful ways to attract new customers.  Inbound marketing is meant to form connections by offering solutions for known problems.

A few ideas:

• A discount for new customers

• A Free download of information that is not easy to find

• Product or service samples

• Discounts on bundles

Educate Your Potential Customers

It is very possible that your marketing viewers are not even aware that they need your service or product.  They may be unsure whether or not they even want or need the product/service you’re offering, or even if they want to buy from your company. This is when it is important to create reasons why someone might need you.

Here is an example:  a family is planning a trip to Disney World next year and believe they will just book the flights, find a hotel, and buy tickets when they get there.  You can advertise the huge discounts available by buying a bundle through your travel agency, thereby offering a savings they did not even know existed.

One-Stop Shopping

Perhaps you offer a complete range of services, thereby saving your customers the hassle of trying to coordinate between several companies.  Highlighting this unique service can set you apart from the rest and attract those looking to simplify their lives. 

Avoid Advertising Jargon

No one likes to be sold on things they do not need.  Unfortunately, tacky advertising jargon often gives that first impression, and potential customers are turned off before they even fully understand what you are offering.  A few suggestions for keeping your advertising positive:

• Keep your content and design up-to-date

• Use language that is inviting, confident, and educated; avoid sounding arrogant or abrasive

• Avoid tacky messaging that puts down competitors

• When using humor, consider your target market and ensure it is appropriate

• Highlight what makes you stand out from the rest, but say it in a way that makes you look like the hero

A Little Appreciation Goes a Long Way

The best next thing to having happy customers is having happy customers who are willing to promote you.  Here are some ways to encourage that behavior:

• Promote their businesses on social media whenever possible

• Offer a referral reward

• Create exclusive content only for your clients

• Consider donating to special causes favored by your customers

• Offer free Q&A sessions

• Hold fan-appreciation virtual or in-person events

• Feature fan photos, videos or other ways to showcase their love of using your product or service

Be Everywhere

Familiarity breeds trust.  By having your brand visible in many outlets, potentials will start to associate their needs to solve a specific problem with your business.  If you only have a Facebook page, you are missing out on a large segment of the population.  Here are the minimum places you should have a presence:

• A professional website:  the effort you take in having a clean, clear website reflects on the service or product you will provide.  If you do spend the time or money on a professional website, it is a clear indication to others that you do not care about appearance and details.

• Ensure your ratings are easy to find on your website, Google, and other review sites.

• Use all appropriate social media outlets and keep them updated.  Here’s who to use and why:

• LinkedIn - if you are a business, you should be on LinkedIn.  If you offer B2B services, this is one of the best places to advertise.

• Facebook - Every business should have a Facebook business page.  Facebook is the favorite for the 40 to 70 year-old-demographic and among community groups.

• Instagram - Excellent platform for image-specific products or services.  Instagram is a favorite for those under 40.

• Youtube -If you can deliver well-made how-to videos promoting your products or services, YouTube is a gold mine having the most viewers of any platform.

Overwhelmed?

You are not alone.  Marketing your company can be a full-time job on top of the business you are already in. 

“Just build it and they will come” is just not reality when it comes to websites generating traffic. The website must have the correct structure and on-page SEO to even start attracting search engines.  As you read, there are many ways to start the process and as each business is unique, the approach should be as well.

Please contact me at Charlotte’s Web Designs. LLC for assistance with any of the steps above.  I have worked with over 100 businesses and over 30 years experience with digital design, coding and marketing, and working with all business types from startups to multi-generational firms.  Click here to set up a free 30-minute consultation so I can learn more about your business and how I can help.  We can do this!