I made a small fortune when the internet was gaining steam back in the early 2000’s helping small businesses get paid online. The cool thing was that businesses found our website from across America and I was truly amazed at how well it worked. Then as more and more businesses went online to find customers my traffic decreased and before I knew it, it was dead. I blame most of it on the ending of the gold rush as many businesses went online to find fortunes with little or no plan but to just get online. I also blame big business. As the big players started to dominate, many smaller players just quit but what most people didn’t know was that search engines like Alta Vista and Yahoo started recognizing local businesses and then actually putting them on the map! Today it is not only possible but imperative to gain traction in local search by hiring a website developer to design and create a website, submit it to the search engines, and putting your business on the map.
What does a website really do?
Your website is your first chance to make an impression and for many your last if you’re not putting your best foot forward. When I’m on my phone searching for something and click on a URL (Web Address) I better be able to easily utilize the website from my phone. So, your website must be mobile ready. Mobile ready means that it’s easy to read from a smart phone and when you present a Call to Action like “Call Now.” All you need to do is touch the phone and it dials your phone number. It’s a major pain to have to try and remember the phone number while punching it into your phone. If your mobile website design is not mobile ready YOU WILL LOSE BUSINESS, PERIOD! As a potential new customer, I want to learn, can this company meet my needs? How close are they? What are their hours? Do they look like the kind of people I want to do business with? Do they look friendly, approachable? So yes, a photo would help! Does their website offer clear instructions on how to contact or call for more information? Ease of use is the key.
So, your website is looking good but what features does your website require to get the job done? First you need a good logo or theme or combination that visually explains your business name and maybe even what you do. Next, you need at least three to four of the things you offer to use as subtitles on the home page. Each subtitle would then link to another page for a service business in this case that explains exactly what goes into each service and what you do to complete it. So, if you are an auto mechanic I would start with your bread and butter like oil changes. State why it’s important and provide a call to action such as Call (410) 457-7331 to set up an appointment along with a contact page they can fill out on your website, that sends you their contact info by email so you the business owner can call them. Maybe you could also put something like, “Drop by anytime or call us for an appointment.” Once again you need to make it easy and friendly. I can’t tell you how many websites over the years I’ve come upon that made it super difficult or nearly impossible to inquire about the products or services they offered.
The bottom line is that your website needs to be easy to use, say and explain what you do and why you are better than the other guy while including a clear call to action. The rest is up to you! What is the cost to design and host and update your website? Give us a call or complete our contact page.
James Darle Jones