Yes, Your Website Should be a Lead Generator

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There’s no right or wrong company websites–just bad, good and great websites. What constitutes a great website? It’s a website that generates leads. We’re talking leads that you can turn into sales. That’s the purpose of the website of any small business. Let me repeat: leads, leads, leads.

Yes, your website should be attractive and welcoming. Afterall, you’re in the business of beautifying properties. And, yes, it should display your great work, your undying commitment to great service, testimonials from customers and reference to whatever awards or honors your company has earned. These are trust builders. Trust is incredibly important to prospects. Your phone won’t ring unless prospects trust you and what you’re sharing with them.

Check out these tips that website guru Matt Kush, MAK Consulting, Inc., Elk Grove Village, Ill., shared with me and a small gathering of landscape company owners this past week: 

  • Boost your company’s search engine optimization (SEO) by using keywords and specific key phrases. Focus on those that refer to your services or unique capabilities. Don’t be stingy; list all that pertain to your company. Populate appropriate pages on your website with those keywords and phrases that you want to stand out. Concentrate on building SEO on Google. Matt says that Yahoo and Bing will follow Google’s lead.
  • Target your website’s focus to the audience(s) that you want to reach. Residential clients? Facility managers? You don’t have time to be responding to a lot of tire kickers.
  • Give visitors reasons to call your company. Invite interaction. Provide clear, compelling reasons for visitors to pick up their phones right now and contact your company. Offer special seasonal deals and coupons. Promote prepays. 
  • Don’t overlook video. Videos don’t have to be big budget and they don’t have to be slick or hard-sell either, advises Matt Kush. They just have to be nice, and let viewers know that you’re honest, know your stuff, you’re approachable and you want their business. View videos as a soft-well. 
  • Keep your website fresh. Combine seasonal special offers with helpful seasonal information. Make it easy for visitors to take advantage of the offers; invite their questions.
  • Here’s the homerun idea: Post nice video testimonials from happy customers. Let your customers tell prospects what they appreciate about your service. Keep them short and friendly. Solicit video testimonials from delighted clients; they’re dynamite. 

To repeat: Make your website a lead generator. If you’re not satisfied that it’s bringing in the calls, get it fixed. If you need a website pro to help you, do some checking around and get a good pro like Matt Kush at MAK Consulting.