NOTT MARKETING SERVICES

Must-Haves for the Small Business Website

1. Contact details. Building credibility is crucial when you are a new company. Providing physical, mailing, and email addresses with your phone numbers on every page will show that you are serious about customer service. Post typical office hours, or state appointment preferences in the same place on every page. Let your visitors know right away that they can speak to a real person when they need support.

2. A map. If you see clients in your office or shop, or have a retail point of sale, customers will appreciate a map with driving directions to your location, especially if you are located near exit ramps and interchanges.

3. An email form. A simple to complex email form can help qualify prospects for you, and provide the information you need to prepare a consultation with them.

4. Photos of your staff. Another credibility factor that can reel in prospects. Use photos of your staff at work rather than anonymous stock photography. If you are a contractor, what better way to introduce your team? Let your clients see who will be working in their home.

5. Clearly define your 'Calls to Action'. You have only a few seconds to engage a new visitor to your website, so make those "calls to action" easy to see on all your pages. If your objective is to qualify your lead on the telephone, give your visitor a compelling reason to contact you today, then include a prominent graphic telling them again to call today. On your products page, make a time-sensitive offer, giving the visitor an advantage to acting quickly. Prompt again to call or fill out a contact form today.

6. A newsletter subscription form. If you have a monthly industry newsletter, your prosepcts can get to know you before they need your product/service. Your expertise in your field will help break the ice for you before your prospects may be ready to buy. A newsletter can be a marketing tool, an ad tester, and a means of rolling out new products.

What Your Website Doesn't Need

Small business owners who have never had a website often are confused about their needs. They often get bogged down just trying to figure out what they have to know before they get started. They do want their websites to reflect their companies in the best possible light. Text and photographic effects requiring Java scripting or Flash animation give a certain modern flair that our customers expect, right? One person's cool effect may be annoying to another. One rule of thumb: when it comes to effects, use them appropriately and keep them as simple.

 

1. Sound files that start up when a visitor arrives at your site. In the course of my work, I have reason to visit a lot of websites for rock artists. I have nearly jumped out of my chair when a site loaded up with a screaming metal accompaniment. I get out of those sites as quickly as possible.

2. Javascript pop-up functions on your home page. These features can open up a software update warning or crash your visitor's machine! Avoid installing scripts that install pop-out pages that cover the home-page. Keep in mind that visitors using older computers at work with older versions of java scripting may not let your page load in at all. Having a fantastic Flash movie on your home page may keep smart phone customers from entering your site!

3. A popup movie of a talking spokesperson reciting the company spiel. Give your visitor the option to see the presentation- a short flash slideshow in the header should make your visitor ask you for more!

4. A huge, fancy animated graphic in the header. If this is necessary to your product presentation, give an alternate text link to your visitors to bypass your gorgeous movie to get straight to your other important information. Special effects used incorrectly can render your site inoperable, make your pages take forever to load, or may prevent your visitor from navigating through the site.

 

5. A live video chat opens up on the home page in real-time. Consider that your customers will want to look your company or offer over before getting put on the spot. Prospects like to research before formulating questions, and may wish to prepare for the sales pitch.

 

6. Do not substitute a couple of linked Microsoft word documents for a web site. Really, they are still out there. You may have been able to get away with this in 1998, but there there is no excuse for that now. If you do not have the expertise to build and code a website, hire someone who does! You may have multiple masters degrees and be a genius in your field, but if website construction is not your forte, hire a pro for the job. Remember that your website is the ambassador for your company, and coding for search engines is crucial today.

 

7. Resist the temptation to add social networking features, such as a comments page or a forum, to your company website. Social networking pages are the appropriate forum for comments, not your website. Save the time, effort and expense of trying to add all those bells and whistles when you launch. Collect testimonials to post to your website instead. Facebook and Twitter can bring targeted traffic and referrals to your site or storefront, and you may benefit from highly targeted and inexpensive ad campaigns on these types of sites.

 

8. Curb your enthusiasm on your tweets. While on the topic of social networks... save your opinionated political ravings for a less public venue. I found the Twitter page of a local businessman I know who must have been sharing a rant with some friends after some random political gaffe made by the President. On the basis of his page, I was certain I did not want to meet the guy.

 

Many of these things may be have an unintended effect on visitors at the very least who will not be likely to return in the future. Consider that having a home page containing a video or complex slideshow can keep you from being found by search engines. Keep your website simple, go easy on the effects, and you'll be far better off.