You’ve heard it. Those whispers going around the internet, your networking group, random conversations you’ve overheard while in line at Starbucks. You know, the ones where people are consistently talking about driving their website—forward, upward, in motion, stop-motion—you name it.
You may not know what people are actually talking about (hint: they might not either), but it seems everyone is just abuzz with the idea of improving their website performance.
So, the question remains: how do you do it? How can you get your website to impress the pants off Google and be a lead-converting machine? Well, the answer may be simpler than you thought possible: through quality content. Sounds so simple, it must be crazy, right? Hear me out.
Engage Your Visitors
The first thing any potential lead is going to do when visiting your site is size you up. And yes, images are worth a thousand words each but if you don’t immediately catch their attention with your brand’s message—they’re going to go in search of the next guy.
Despite the fact that as a society, we read less than ever before—we still read. We’re entranced with a good story, a strong message and engaging content. It’s important, nay imperative, to hook your visitors instantly with a witty, dedicated and strong-worded homepage. Having one will inevitably keep visitors around for longer and encourage them to surf around your site—raising your conversion rate all the more.
Be Obvious About It
If it takes more than 8 seconds to figure out what you offer, you’ve already lost your sale. 8 seconds. That’s it. The human mind can scan for information even faster than that—I’m being lenient.
If your homepage and subsequent about and services pages are not explicit in what you’re offering, people are going to surf away faster than you can blink. Your website is only as good of a sales tool as you make it. If you can’t sell your business in just a few short paragraphs, or even words—you’re going to be left behind. While, if people can quickly get the gist of what you do—they’re going to be interested in learning more. The more they want to know, the longer they stick around and the longer they stick around…well, you get the point.
Blog Already, Will You?
Oh, so you’re still not blogging? You don’t have time? You don’t get the point? Stop making excuses for why you’re not doing something that is incredibly vital to your business’s success online and start doing it instead. Blogging is the one thing that is guaranteed to drive traffic to your site, increase your mailing list size, and establish you as a tour-de-force within your industry (if done correctly, of course).
Did you know that each post you write creates a new page on your site? Did you also know that each blog page on your site that boasts new, unique and quality content is gobbled up by Google? And did you know that the more food you feed the Google monster—the higher you’ll be ranked by their nifty new algorithms? Tis true.
By developing a strong readership through a tailored blogging strategy, you will be able to drive your website traffic and overall performance through the roof. It’s that whole, ‘If you build it they will come’ thing. But this time, it’s about your business—not Kevin Costner or James Earl Jones.
If time and effort really is an issue, consider outsourcing to a qualified, reputable content company—like ours—to help get you started. And then, before you know it, you’ll be chatting people up in line at Starbucks at how you bested the system and have one of the more potent sites online today!