Can a shiny new website, with good SEO, be just the thing that help your sales go up?
"If we could just get people to our website..." is what everyone is thinking. But what is your customer thinking?
What happens in their mind when they first land on your website? That could be a big disconnect because any effort to get them to your website can be lost if, once they're there, your message doesn't resonate with them. So a godo wesbite is one thing, and that we have lots of control over if we help redesign your website.
But there's another piece to the question: "Can you guarantee an ROI on my website re-design?"
Our answer is always, "Unfortunately, not."
Why is that? Well, there's too many things out of our control that take place during the sales process. And if new sales are the measure of how successful your website is, the other factors that go into any new sale are:
- the pricing structure: what if your price is more than your competitors and you can't convince a prospect that you're worth the extra cost?
- the delivery: maybe they love your stuff, but if you can't get it to them when they need it, it doesn't matter how great you, or your website, are.
- the service: even if you have what they want, if there's no follow up, or guarantee to the product or service, that could lose a sale too.
- the product: let's say a home builder doesn't build the features a customer wants: it doesn't matter if the price is good, it's not what they want.
- the sales people: you might have good sales people, but if they don't connect with a prospect they're at a distinct isadvantage.
Since we have no control over any of those items, and subsequently the sales that happen (or don't happen) we can't guarantee an ROI on a new website.
So what can we do?
What we can do is get people to your website and have them drop you an email or make a call. But even to get someone to your website (someone who has never heard of you) requires a lot of pieces and parts working together.
Those elements are:
- search engine marketing: this is what happens off your website, and can be Google's AdWords, blog posts, social media or any link back that leads prospects back to your website,
- search engine optimization: this is what happens on your website, and uses the right keyword phrases throughout your site, and overlaps with content marketing,
- content marketing: this is your online knowledge base and shows your audience you're the expert in your industry. If you get content out there that's shared, linked to or "Liked" you'll be way ahead of your competition,
- social media: we hear company owners say their secretary or sales folks can do social media, but what usually happens is, they do it for two weeks then it drops by the wayside because they already have 100 other things to do.
Getting found on Google and social media is an ongoing, ever changing moving target, and without someone guiding you through and helping you avoid the bumps, it too easy to fall into the trap of spinning your wheels. And the worst case is, you could actually be doing your ranking harm by doing something that Google frowns upon.
To see what metrics Google measures when someone comes to your website see this infographic we've done. These are the metrics of SEO (the stuff that happens on your website.)
In the world of internet marketing, you have to play by Google's rules. If you don't, you're just asking for trouble.
As a Columbus Ohio web design firm, there's no way we can say "Yes, we'll guarantee your website will pay for itself." Because it's not just not up to us for your company to make a sale, but many people. There are just too many variables for us to guarantee an ROI.
That said, we can guarantee a kick ass website that will make your company look more evolved than your competitors! And that is an excellent start to helping give prospects confidence in your organization. So if you want to start that conversation, start by dropping us an email here.
