There was a time when having a website was a fancy luxury that wasn’t necessary. Back then, if you couldn’t be found in the Yellow Pages, you didn’t exist. Fast forward a few years and no one knows what life without a smart phone was like and everyone including your grandmother has their own domain. Do you need a website? If you live in today’s world, yes, yes, you do.
But it’s not enough to have a website, it has to also needs to send the right message about you and your business. What message is that? So glad you asked…
• Credibility
A website should convey credibility about you, your service and commitment to your clients. Create this experience through copy, testimonials and images that give the viewer an impression of how you do business and how you treat clients when they engage with your services. Also, create a press page that shows media coverage about your business. Nothing like a third party endorsement from a news source that says impartial and credible!
• Accessibility
Your website should display easily how to reach you. One of the biggest complaints about websites is that the visitor cannot find contact information to ask questions or call to make an appointment. Don’t get caught not having a phone number or hours of operation on your website. These are easy items that mean a lot to a potential client so make sure you have it on the site.
• Reliability
As mentioned before, your website needs testimonials for credibility and also to let your potential client or media source know you are reliable. Think about adding a tab for testimonials then go out and ask for them. A few go along away. Look at your past clients or customers and ask your highest profile clients or the ones from the biggest companies for a few words of gratitude. The same can be done for your press page. Is there a producer, editor or news personality you worked with on numerous stories who would be willing to say a few kind words about your reliability and your knowledge of the industry?
• Longevity
Your website should show an evolution of your business that suggests longevity. Media and customers alike want to work with a proven entity, not a newbie who may be gone in the blink of an eye. There are many areas on the website where this narrative can be woven including the press or testimonial page, about page and any services or description page.
Websites are more important than ever for anyone doing business of any kind. You can make the most of your website by creating the right message around it from the start. Credibility, accessibility, reliability and longevity are major keys to that messaging and mean the difference between being taking seriously or just taking up space on the world wide web.