A new year presents a fresh start for businesses and individuals everywhere. After careful planning in December, it’s time to execute and propel your small business toward your set goals. While you’re making things happen in-house, have you thought about how your website is reflecting your vision, goals and objectives? Have you aligned your business website with your 2018 goals? Here are some things to think about:
BE SURE TO REVIEW CLARITY AND PURPOSE
Part of goal setting for a new year is clarifying mission and vision while looking toward the future. Effectively articulating the mission and purpose of your business on your website is crucial. Offered services, which may have changed over the course of the year, should be updated and clear for anyone who visits your site. Your “About” page should efficiently inform visitors of who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Your “Contact” page should have updated information and should invite visitors to reach out with their questions.
Remember that people are coming to your website for a specific reason. Make sure that they’ve gotten what they are looking for after they have visited your site. Curious about what your users are finding most helpful after a site visit? Ask them! Email a survey, put one on your site, ask customers during a visit… there are plenty of ways to find out. Use this data to inform your strategy as you realign your site toward your business goals.
FORM AND FUNCTION DEFINE A USER’S EXPERIENCE
If your goal is to increase sales or add new clients to your roster, your website should be doing some of the work for you: inviting people to give you a call, encouraging them to take a survey that gives you their email address, providing helpful tips that help them with their concerns, etc. There are a variety of ways to do this (and please tune into our blog for more helpful tips in the future!). It’s vital that your website is an active funnel that moves visitors from “just looking” to “new client.”
Also consider the overall functionality of your website. Is it easy to navigate? Can a person move from one page to another quickly and easily, locating the information that they are looking for without too much effort? Are fonts easy to read? Do pictures load quickly? Remember that your website is a first impression and you do not have a lot of time to hold a new visitor’s attention.
AN ALIGNED WEBSITE WILL NEVER BE STATIC
We are long past the days when a website could be designed, launched, and then rarely, if ever, updated again. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and user expectation dictate that websites need to be regularly updated with fresh content. Taking a strategic look at your business calendar and your year-long goals can produce an editorial calendar that will keep your website fresh, searchable and attractive to new users who are looking for your business and curious about what you do. Regular blog posts, announcements, press releases, or other changeable content will do the trick.
It is already mid-January, but it’s never too late to jump-start your goal achievement through simple tweaks and a little bit of planning. Remember: your website is an extension of your business. It’s your first impression, a recruiter for new clients or customers, and it is a critical tool for the ongoing relationships that you have with your current customers. Aligning your small business website with your annual goals is a vital way to ensure that you will, indeed, meet the goals that you have set for the year. Take a little time today to look at your site, think about your goals, make plans to adjust as necessary.