Top 10 Small Business Marketing Mistakes - #4 Your Website Part 1 of 3

Top 10 Small Business Marketing Mistakes - #4 Your Website Part 1 of 3 Marketing Your Website, Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Firm and All About Content A website is crucial to the success of any business, no matter what its size or focus. Your website has become one of the most important tools in your marketing arsenal – it’s where your target market will go when they want to learn more about your business and services, and where they will go if they want to book an appointment, ask questions or learn more about who you are as a business. Investing in the design of your website might seem like a waste of money to some business owners, but it is absolutely crucial that you create a website that gives your potential customers and clients exactly what they want – which means investing in its design as well as its maintenance and marketing capabilities.

Many businesses think that the job of creating a website is done once it’s been created, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In order to succeed on the web, you need to maintain your site, write quality content and market yourself consistently in order to grow your business over time. A website is a long term investment in your business and will produce the greatest return on your investment over time if properly designed, built, maintained and marketed. This article is focused on businesses that currently have a website, need a new website or owners just starting to think about creating a website.

Building a website is not enough Deciding to build a website for your business was a no-brainer. However it is common to believe you can just build a website and the job ends there. Websites are a long term investment which require constant maintenance and attention in order for them to succeed for you in the short and long term.

Many business owners do not understand that their entire web future is based on the initial decision to build a website. The design and the coding used to build your website will play a pivotal role in the success of your website.

Below you will find information in regards to numerous things that should be considered. There is no way to (without writing an actual book) to cover everything you should consider with your website because every business has different needs and goals - and different budgets combined with thousands of options online. With that said, one fundamental question you have to follow when you are making a decision about website design, maintenance, marketing or change is "Will this create a better user experience for the potential client coming to my website?" If the answer is yes, it is likely a good decision.

Properly Vetting and Choosing your Website Design/Marketing Company The most important thing as a business owner you can do to ensure your online success (which includes website design, coding of your website, maintenance and marketing) is properly vetting the website company you choose to work with. This is much more difficult than it appears and most business owners go through 4-5 digital marketing firms before they find the one that actually performs well for them. This costs the business thousands of dollars in website design fees, lost opportunity, time and the cost of rebuilding a website that will actually work for your business.

Digital Marketing Firms have the distinct advantage of being able to sell you something you are not knowledgeable about. This makes it quite simple to sell you a dream that is not possible or realistic knowing you will not realize it until possibly months or years after you choose them as a vendor. Here are a few things you should do while interviewing possible digital marketing firms to use for your business.

1. The most obvious thing you can do is read their online reviews. Those can be difficult to manipulate however it is simple for companies to drown the negative reviews with fake positive reviews. I recommend looking mainly at the negative reviews and see if there is a current theme or if they all seem to be individual negative experiences. If a theme develops (like bad customer service, slow website changes, no search engine growth, etc) that should be a red flag. But understand, online reviews are easy to manipulate for the positives and negatives - so use them only as a part of your process in making a decision. Also, if you find a company with all “5 star” reviews you should be very cautious – there is no such thing as a company with 100% client satisfaction.

2. Review their work and results. It is important you do not ask them for references because those will be clients they chose whom they know that are getting good results. Their ability to make a handful of clients happy does not ensure your success - for all you know they have 10 times that in unhappy clients. The best way to find their clients is through Google. There are some simple searches you can do to find people that use them. The first and easiest is Googling the company's name in quotes, like "Sample Company." This will provide a long list of websites and we recommend going to the 3rd or 4th page. You can then potentially find clients that use their services and either call them to see how they perform for their business - or research their rankings and see if they are doing well or not. You can also do a Google search for "link:www.sample company domain.com" - this might also provide a list of clients that use their services. There are dozens of other tricks but too many to list out here.

3. Successful Friends. If you have a friend that owns a business and is happy with a web company, it is always wise to interview that company. Of course talk to your friend as well who will give you honest feedback. It is ideal though to not ask a friend who is competition – it puts them in an awkward position unless you are not in competing markets.

4. Interview at least 5 companies. It is important you interview and take notes with 5 companies. It is important that you focus on details of actual results - you think the sales person was a "good person" (you have to assume, not always true) typically means they were a good salesperson. After you interview them all, compare your likes and dislikes, your general gut instinct about them all and what services they offer that you feel will benefit your business the most.

5. Tradeshows and Special Offer Ends today! These are sales gimmicks in order to get your business. If you have properly vetted a company and you see them at a tradeshow then it might be worth signing up with them there if the price is right. However, trade show prices are notoriously higher because when companies are able to see you face to face they have the advantage and you do not have your notes.

Often, trade show specials are more expensive than you would pay if you randomly called in. Also, companies that offer you a special "today only" deal will usually offer the same deal a week later - they want your business. If you have not properly vetted a company, never make the emotional decision of signing up. It always will be a mistake.

6. Hire a Consultant to Help You. The biggest issue with choosing a new web vendor is there are literally hundreds of things that you will not understand when talking web development, coding and marketing with a digital marketing firm. The right consultant will be well versed in all parts of web design, marketing, coding and the platform being used and so on. SayWhat Consulting has over 20+ years of web marketing experience and can assist you in choosing the right company for your individual business needs. Learn More about our Business Management Consulting Program.

Maintaining your website with good content

Content for your website includes actual written content, images, videos and pretty much anything else you can see on your website. Website content is vital for your online success for numerous reasons the first is that it provides information to your potential customers which then generates more interest in your business. The second is gaining new clients through online marketing like search engines, paid advertising and social media – the more quality content you have the higher your traffic and conversion will be. There is one common theme when it comes to your website - Unique Content is King.

What is Unique Content? It is content that you cannot find anywhere else online - it is unique to your business and website. It is common for business owners or digital marketing companies to create content that they copied from another website, then make minor edits and post as their own. Google will penalize your website for copying content from another source and using it as your own, it is that simple. Google makes it clear that "In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved." You can read all about Google's Duplicate Content Rules here.

What content should be on my website? The first and most important aspect of content creation is focusing on what the website visitor (potential customer) will find useful including unique information about your business, how you operate, what they can expect from you along with every other detail you believe they will find helpful in making a decision to choose your company. This should be done for every service and product you offer and each service and product should have its own page within your website, with a unique domain. When you are thinking about what images you want on your website, focus on images that represent your business well and are visually pleasing. When you create content for your website, always ask yourself if this will be helpful information to the end user.

Video Content is also important and something every business should have. Videos are helpful for conversion and also the search marketing aspect as well. Videos do not need to be professionally produced - however it typically is wise for certain businesses that serve a higher end clientele. Using your iPhone on a tripod can be as effective on a website as most videos. When people visit your website they are interested in learning more about your business and videos are a great tool that can assist you in converting them into actual customers. There are numerous video editors that are simple to use for videos recorded on your iPhone - or you can hire someone from a website like Upwork to edit them for you if you are not tech savvy. Videos will be effective for your business and website conversion - along with all of your marketing efforts.

A quick (AND IMPORTANT) note about stock images for your website. Stock images need to be purchased through a website vendor like ShutterStock. We highly recommend that as the business owner you purchase these images instead of allowing your digital marketing company to purchase them on your behalf. If you decide to leave your digital marketing firm you are then 100% sure you will have full ownership of those images then and 10 years from now. The stock image companies that own the images will pursue businesses that do not have the proper rights or authorization and it can get quite costly for you if you cannot prove ownership. Purchasing images directly from the vendor gives you the assurance of knowing they are in your name and that they were purchased legally and most importantly you own all rights to them. When you use a stock photo company you can buy packages and the images are quite cost effective. I have seen some companies sued for using images they did not have the rights to and they ended up having to pay over $40,000 to settle the case. It is well worth protecting your business and purchasing the images yourself.

What is the best way to create unique content? Writing content is a pain, takes time and usually is the last thing on anyone's list to do - but it is so important for your online success. It is also very tempting to copy a paragraph here and there to speed up the process but this always results in duplicated content long term and will do more harm to your website than good. The most effective way to generate content is for you to speak naturally about your business, the services you offer and why customers should choose you. The most effective way to get that in writing is to sit down and record yourself discussing the topics - you can then easily have it transcribed through your iPhone or any other service. You are then stuck with the task of editing it, which is 10 times easier than writing the content out. If you spend two hours discussing your business you will provide yourself with enough content for your entire website. If you really want to make it easy on yourself you can find someone to edit that content for you then you will just have to proof read it once. Also, by recording yourself you are much more likely to produce very unique content, relevant content and content which provide the end user the information they are looking for. I suggest making a list of all your services and everything you need content for on your website – it is then quite easy to discuss them, get that content transcribed and on your website. It will save you countless hours.

In Closing (Part 2 of this article will be available in a week covering marketing your website and more) Your website should be your most profitable investment you make in your business - all marketing efforts lead to it. You have to have a website that is built correctly from the start, focused on the end user and focused on conversion. Content is vital for your businesses website and marketing the business. It is also vital for you to choose the right digital marketing firm – it will be one of the most important decisions you make for marketing your business. SayWhat Consulting can assist you in finding the right digital marketing firm for you. We will find the right company that meets your needs and ensure you get the best possible results in the timeliest matter. We are unbiased; we know all about website design and SEO but are not selling you those services. Our job is to find you the right company for your needs and we are very successful at doing that. If you already have a website, we also offer a free, no obligation online marketing audit which will go over all of your online marketing including social media, website design and marketing, paid advertising and more.

Written by David Phillips, CEO and Founder of SayWhat Consulting. With over 20 years of experience, Mr. Phillips has consulted with small, medium and large businesses in marketing, business management, staff training and day-to-day operations. SayWhat assists clients in numerous industries including cosmetic surgeons, plastic surgeons, med spas and attorneys in family law and criminal law. We also assist other industries as well and our primary clients are small and medium sized businesses.