Why your website isn’t pulling the crowds.

The problem.

There are now over a billion websites in the world today. Most of them don’t really live up to the high expectations their owners had for them.

A standard approach is that a client supplies a website developer with text and images. The developer codes the site, makes minor edits at the customer’s bidding, and pushes the site live. So in effect, the standard website formula is client’s text + client’s photos + developer’s coding = website.

Content is King

The problem I see with this is that great content is not necessarily a component of this process. You may have heard the expression that ‘Content is King’ – essentially the understanding that a website or online presence needs great content to work well.

A website is merely an arrangement of your content in a digital form. Bad content is still going to be bad content.

And while business owners may be great plumbers, builders or lawyers, they may not be great writers or photographers. Even if there is talent there – and I have seen some fantastic efforts – the reality is that a business owner can be too close to the process to
find the necessary fresh angles.

Online window-shoppers

Remember we now live in the age of the online shopper / browser. We are an international conglomerate of online window shoppers. Prospects can visit your site and ten of your competitors in a 5-minute online burst. How will your content stack up? Will it draw them in or get them Googling for another option?

Now it may be that you already produce amazingly engaging content. Well done you. For other mere mortals, here is a checklist of what you need to consider to turn your poor website into a great one:

Be clear on your proposition: Why should prospects be interested in you? What do you offer them in real terms that others don’t? Make sure your proposition is customer-centric, specific, and realistic.
Invest in great photography: I recently saw a motorbike for sale online. It was black. The vendor clearly couldn’t be bothered wheeling it out of his unlit shed so he took a number of shots inside – in the dark. Presumably with his six-year old cellphone. The result was some very unappealing, difficult-to-see images that didn’t convince me he had a worthwhile item for sale. Too many clients invest in a website but then fail to invest in professional images – images which in many cases would promote extra sales. Remember – a picture is worth a thousand words.
Get your copy professionally produced: A great copy-writer can turn scribbles and general ideas into elegant prose that creates an emotion, and then an action. It will be worth the investment getting a writer on board – particularly if writing is not your thing.
Remember – marketing is all about the CUSTOMER: While I do encourage shots of your staff, building, and in some cases, vehicles, the real gold is in producing content that appeals to the customer’s point-of-view. For example, if you produce a building product, showing that product installed on or in a home is going to be much more rewarding that showing how it is made in a factory, or showing your installers lined up by their sign-written vehicles. Most of us (consumers) are only interested in how your product or service will enhance OUR lives.

Once you have great content, you will find ongoing uses for it. From Facebook, to Instagram, to magazine and press advertisements and so much more. In businesses that operate a number of social media platforms, the same piece of content can be replicated across many touch points.