A decade ago, driving customers to your business consisted of placing an ad in yellowpages, building a website and displaying a sign out front - TA DA!, you’re all set for business. Today, not so much. In fact, yellowpages as a business search tool is unheard of, particularly within the millennial generation. When it comes to a website and social media within your business – nothing could be more important. We’ll touch on websites today and cover social media as Part 2.
In today’s world, the mentality can no longer be “build it and they will come.” Websites need constant care, attention and updates but are, without a doubt, the cheapest 24-7, 365-day sales person that you can hire. Technology is constantly changing and updating. Your website needs to do the same. The website that you had your nephew build in 2004, to be frank, is worthless. Your website needs to be built in the latest technology and on a device responsive platform. This means that the website display automatically adjusts to the size of the screen. Check the screenshots below, they show a sample website appearing on desktop and mobile screen.
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Sample Website[/caption]
The mobile version isn’t exactly readable. A mobile customer would have to work hard at pinching and expanding to find out about your business. In a quick and fast-paced world, why would your potential customer spend additional efforts trying to find your information when they can go to your competitor’s updated and readable website?
Look at the following image, this is what it’s all about.
So how do you know if you have to revise your website? The first clue to look at is your website analytics. It is here where you will find the breakdown of customer traffic between mobile and desktop users. Your analytics will identify the exit rate of those visiting your website. If you haven’t updated your website in a while, odds are, you will see a higher exit rate of mobile users than desktop users.
If you’re questioning yourself and wondering if you even have an analytics systems…it’s time to install Google Analytics. It’s easy and there are many instructional video’s available to teach you everything that you want to know about website analytics. Once installed, you will start to receive a wealth of information at your fingertips and have all the information necessary to make sound decisions regarding your business.
We all know that you don’t get a second-chance at a first impression and our website is typically the first impression for the majority of your potential customer-base. Invest some time and money into your website. It will build trust and confidence with your customers and make it easy for them to do business with you.
Seem overwhelmed? Take one step at a time. Start with the first step: Research. This is done with your analytics. Once you have that information, you can make plans for change. AlphaGraphics has a number of resources for you to draw from in planning out your next steps. Marketing professionals, copywriters, graphic designers and programmers to help make your website work for you. More information is available
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