First impressions are always the most important, and your website is no exception. Statistics show that it takes most users half a second to form an opinion of your website. Even more importantly, 75% of consumers claim that they make judgments about a company’s credibility based on their website alone.
Needless to say, your website is an essential part of your marketing. With so much of marketing today happening in the digital sphere, your website is your central hub. It’s important that it lives up to the responsibility it carries for your digital marketing plan. In today’s blog, let’s discuss a few ways your website impacts your marketing:
Branding
When you open a physical storefront, that storefront serves not only as a place to greet customers and do business, but a place to establish your brand. Everything from the design and organization to the imagery you use to the culture of your employees plays into your brand. Your website works the same way.
Your website serves as your digital storefront, and it should be just as much a representation of your brand. The color and theme or design you choose for your website should fit into your branding. So should the website navigation and the language you use to describe your brand and services. This is your brand’s home on the internet, so it should be the clearest representation of your brand that can be found.
SEO
Your website can also boost your ranking on Google if it’s well done, driving up traffic and the chance of generating leads for your business. This occurs through search engine optimization, or SEO. Google uses an algorithm that ranks search results based on expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness. Your website should be built to be used for humans, but when it is built in a way that’s mindful of SEO, you may get the best of both worlds.
A few ways to boost your website’s SEO include:
- Work in natural keywords relevant to your brand — especially local keywords
- Build landing pages and a blog with rich content between 1-2k words
- Refresh that content frequently to keep it relevant
- Vary your format with headings and subheadings, bolded text, and bullet points
- Use alt text and meta tags to boost SEO for your website
- Use multiple forms of content, including written, imagery, and videos
When using these strategies to boost your SEO, be careful not to stuff your website content full of keywords. Google tends to penalize keyword stuffing by downgrading the ranking of your website or even refusing to list the website. It’s more effective to create good content and use keywords where they naturally fit, without overdoing it.
User Experience
The user experience on your website is a big part of your company’s customer experience. If your website is too difficult to use, they are much more likely to go to your competition and avoid you altogether. But what goes into the user experience?
The main thing is that your website is easy to read and understand. If the colors are too glaring, if it takes too long to load, or if the font is difficult to understand, that becomes a drag to customers. Navigation is an important part of ensuring that customers can get where they need to go with ease — your contact page, your services, your shop, etc.
Your website should be clean, clear, and easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile. It should also look modern and reputable. An old-fashioned interface can make your business seem out of touch. If it falls short in any of these areas, you may be losing leads.
Credibility
Customers want to get a feel that you know what you’re doing, that they can trust you with their business. In most cases, they’re going to use your website to try to get that impression. But how do you show that you’re credible through your website?
A well-built website with a great user experience is a start on this process, as is well-written webpage content. As we said, first impressions are the most important. A neat website gives people the impression of a company that has itself together. You can also list any accolades, accomplishments, or customer testimonials on your website to build credibility.
Your written content is one essential way to build that credibility. If it is informative, clear, and backed up by authoritative resources, it speaks volumes. A good website with strong content tells viewers that you not only have things together, but you’re an expert in your industry. It’s hard not to want to learn more after that.
