What Is My Web Site Delivering?

What is my web site delivering?

Get out of here. Go to your own business web site. Pretend you are your own web site visitor. Read your web content. If you get  bored in less than two minutes, the diagnostic is in: your web site is a “blah, blah” web site.

Are you back? Now, ask yourself the simplest question: “what is my website delivering?” If you are a small business owner and you can’t answer that question, you need urgent help.

To get it right, you need to look at your web site as just another door to your real-world business. Though “virtual”, this door can bring you real clients and real money in the bank. It has three advantages that no other door has. Remember them, there will be a quizz (really, and you get discounts for answering):

1. It is always open! All the time! Day, night, dusk, dawn, 24/7.
2. To anyone in the world! That’s right, the entire world is your neighborhood. Your neighbor around the corner can be at the doorstep of your business just about as fast as the neighbor of Hong Kong’s mayor, or the mayor himself: in almost an instant!
3. No sales staff needed! Once in, anybody can take what they want. No need for “loss prevention” personnel, eiher, as no client will physically take posession of whatever you sell to them, until after they paid you!

Now, knowing all this, and knowing that more and more businesses every day open their virtual doors to very real people, wouldn’t you rather get your own as soon as possible? Oh, you already have one! So, have you answered the  question yet?

The time for “Why the heck do I need a web site?” is long gone. Now is the time for “What is my web site delivering?” The answer is multiple-choice:

• Products
• Services
• Information

Make it so any or all of those answers will be clearly visible from the moment a visitor enters your web site. This is what will ultimately add to your boom line.

How so?

• Clear message
• Inviting graphics
• Interactivity
• Call to action

More and more, we live in an inter-connected world. Everything and everybody is at our fingertips at a mere touch of a keyboard or screen.  More and more, any exchange that happens between us, no matter where we are throughout the world, starts with the tap of that keyboard or screen. eBiz Miami is here to make sure that, if you have something to offer, the right people will find you.

No matter what your industry is, technology has evolved such that you are bound to find at least one online tool to help you meet your customers’ demands online. For that to happen, your own web site needs to be a useful tool or, better yet, an entire kit of tools at the fingertips of your clients or your prospects.  Change your web site today, if it does not contain at least two of the following:

• User-friendly experience: your web design should have two things in mind: impact and navigation. Draw people in through powerful graphic elements or statements. Keep them in through meaningful content. Powerful does not mean sophisticated, or elaborated. It means simple and accessible. Make your web site stand out, easy to navigate, and above all, useful to visitors. Any one person coming into your site should know within a few seconds where they are, what they will find there, and how to get it. Chances are, they have already visited other web sites that offer  similar things. If they left those, make sure yours will be the one they stay in, and keep coming to. See the last bullet point on this list for another “must” that complements this one.
• Accept credit cards, sell directly on-line. No excuse for lacking this. Internet transactions have become more secure, and routine. They are now a convenience to the internet user, and a must to you, no matter what you sell. If a prospect or existing client sees a “Buy Now” or, better yet, “Order Securely” button, when ready, that prospect or client will use it, and your web has site just put money into your bank. If that button isn’t there, the money stays in their bank.
• Make it interactive: allow users to choose on the spot the different options for the products or services you offer, request a quote, ask a question, or leave feedback about your company and your products or services. Ask for it, encourage it, don’t wait for it. Conversely, answer your web user’s questions, requests or feedback. Human interactions are built on trust. Responding quickly and pertinently to inquiries shows readiness and expertise. People are compelled and comforted by those.
• Advise your web site visitors on topics of your expertise: industry trends, technical issues, new rules and regulations etc. Any change or event in your own company should also make the subject of regular updates. Not only do you promote and enforce your expertise image, but keeping your web content fresh gives you a higher ranking in search engines. No matter what tricks and “strategies” any other self-proclamed guru will try to sell you at a premium, content remains the magic ingredient in the industry’s magic concept: “SEO” – Search Engine Optimization. Without content, there will be nothing to optimize. Without pertinent, useful content, the visits to your web site would be over in less than fifteen seconds.
• Specials. Your business is special to you. Make your customers or prospects feel special. Your web site must constantly contain special deals, promotional offers. Always. At any time, anyone entering your web site should be able to see where the “deals” are. Just like in a real store, or restaurant, the prevalence of marketing driven by fierce competition has acustomed us to the idea that there is always a bargain to be had. One of the first things we do when entering any place that sells something, is to move our eyes around for the “Specials” section. If you’re not offering it, your competition is. Keep your visitors in, once they stepped through that door, by making them feel special. Let them see those special deals right away. Keep them coming back, once they purchased something, by reminding them they’re special to you, with more special deals. By the way, have you seen what the eBiz Miami specials are? They’re all HERE.

Thorough research and countless statistics show that now, more than ever, having an online presence and conducting business on the internet is a real lifeline for small businesses. More and more businesses are growing stronger and even reach new heights of success. On one condition: to do it right! Go back through the bullet points mentioned above. Test your existing web site to see how many of them apply to it. Congratulate yourself if you found more than three. Let us help you if you didn’t.

Last but not least, take the short quiz below, to show yourself that you have not read this article in vain. You will be proud to see that you remember the essence of the useful information presented here. And, if you are still looking for that unique bargain on internet marketing services, you might just get it in your email once you’re finished answering.