“Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?” – Edgar Bergen
It’s entirely possible that you know some people who agree. Some of them might even be employed by you. (Hopefully, not for long.) About the only thing you can do with someone who coasts on the job and has no desire to live up to his full potential is to replace him with someone with a bit more drive.
Are you kidding me? I already have one thing to do!
The Wonderful World of Hard-Working Websites
One of the least mentioned but most admirable characteristics about computers and websites is that, although they seem to just sit there, they are perfectly capable of working harder for you. Utilize them and treat them right and you will be amazed at how much more work they can do, how much more they can accomplish, and how much more profitable they can make your business.
If W.C. Fields were alive today, he might describe websites like he did women: “Beautiful to look at, but I wouldn’t want to own one.” But Mr. Fields is not alive today (Alas, he left his wife with no inheritance, so she had to start selling cookies.) Fact check!
Hard work will never kill you… as long as you can avoid it.
A website that is not optimized is as useless as a two-legged stool, even if it is beautiful to look at. If you apply some of the following tips, your business website will work harder for you – especially for generating leads. Isn’t that the reason you have a website?
Start Counting. Here We Go.
- Focus on potential customers. If you want to attract customers, your website has to be attractive to them. How it looks and what it says has to appeal to them. Otherwise, all you have done is built a monument to your own imagination. Suggestion: Get someone else’s opinion. Let them be the voice of the customer about what works and what doesn’t. Remember, the objective is to get your website to work harder.
- Include at least one Call to Action. Ask for their business. Ask them to enter a contest. Invite them to download some valuable information about home improvement. Encourage them to register for a workshop or webinar. All they need to do is fill out a form with their contact information. Clarification: They call it a form. We call it a lead.
Get their attention, then ask them to do something.
Make your site more user-friendly. If it’s not easy to navigate, they won’t stay for long. They will move on to a more user-friendly site. A piece of advice: Make navigation buttons large, colorful, and obvious.
- Put your name up in lights. Be big. Be bold. Highlight your NAP (name, address, phone number). Don’t hide it in a small font size at the bottom of the page. Tip: This is the place to get in their face.
- Think like People magazine. Use images. Lots of images. Vibrant images. Images of happy, smiling people. Hint: Don’t overpower visitors with content. Leave plenty of white space so images and text stand out.
I once thought about replacing Al with a blog.
Include a blog. If they really want to read, send them to your blog. Keep the content in the blog fresh and updated on a frequent and regular basis. Advice: Post like Democrats vote … early and often.
- Make it mobile friendly. It’s the only way you can catch them when they are on the move. Insight: If they are on the move when they are looking for your website, they are probably in a buying mood.
- Update content and images often. Don’t expect “same-0 same-o” to generated leads.
I counted seven. How many did you count? We could probably share a dozen more ideas, but we have to stop writing and check to see how many leads our website is generating. You should be doing the same. If it’s not generating leads and improving your home improvement business (Can you do that?), it isn’t the website’s fault. It’s the fault of whoever told the website what to do.
Contact us. We’d like to help you generate more leads. Join our stable of delighted, satisfied clients.
