Margaret Osborn posted on May 05, 2011 11:57
Special to: Fueling Indiana
By Margaret Osborn, Director of Marketing for Active Environmental Services
Active Environmental Services recently launched new website to better support our brand, tell our company’s story, and reflect the level of service we provide. To many business owners, the phrase “a new website” brings about overwhelming thoughts of dollar signs. But it’s ignoring the face of your business – your website – that can cost you much more.
Your website is a lead generation tool; it has the potential to be the best performer on your sales team. Now, a prospect is not going to decide to do business with you just because of your site – but they will decide whether or not to request more information. If your site ranks low in search engine results, is poorly designed or outdated, or lacks relevant and supporting content – you could be losing out on new business opportunities.
Here are some things we’ve learned through our recent redesign process in case you’re considering your own website facelift:
Can You Hear Me Now? Okay, since this article is about websites it’s more accurate to ask, “Can you find me now?” To leverage your website as a lead generation tool you should do everything you can to ensure your business can be found online when people are searching for services such as yours (2,000,000 searches happen on Google every minute). The key is to engage a web or marketing professional who will ensure your site is optimized for search engines.
Just a Pretty Face? A website is more than just a pretty face – it serves as your online storefront whether you’re selling widgets or remediation services. It’s a 24/7 medium for customers to learn more about your company. They key to your website engaging the kind of customer you want and compelling them to contact you is to ensure your site contains content that is relevant to their needs, and contains case studies and customer testimonials that speak to their potential business challenges.
Brand Supporter or Outlier? You’ve invested heavily in a name and logo, business processes, bricks and mortar, a fleet of vehicles and technical equipment, uniforms and even customer service programs to create a brand experience for your customers. This brand experience should be supported by your website. Consistency across all customer touch points will extend the value of your brand investment and impact your bottom line.