Evaluate your Online Presence

Let me share a phone call with you that I got from a business owner recently: “Hi there, our website doesn’t generate any leads. Can you please freshen it up with a new design? You can just use the content of the old website”.

Can you relate to this? It happens all the time. Many business owners still see their website as a “brochure on the web” to describe their products and services.

It’s important to understand that a website is found on Google when it has relevant content and will generate leads when it solves the pain of a potential client. A ‘fresh’ version of the website with the same structure, content and functionality will not move the needle!

So let me give you a simple framework to evaluate your online presence. First I’ll show you how to check if your ideal clients can find your website when they do a Google search, and then we’ll look at what your website needs to attract leads for your business.

Does your website get found in search engines?

The objective of Google is to offer the most relevant results for the searches of its users, and the best possible user experience. Google’s search engine performs almost 6 billion searches per day, so they’ve had a lot of experience in fine-tuning the algorithms!

Below are some quick and easy checks to see if your website is set up to be found online.

• Check the pages on your website. Is there a separate page for every product and service, and does it have at least 400 words of relevant information? A nice design and pictures don’t help to get found on Google!
• More than 50% of internet traffic is on mobile phones, so mobile friendliness is an important signal for Google ranking. Check here if your website is mobile friendly.
  
• A safe browsing experience is in everybody’s interest. See if your website URL begins with “https,” which indicates it has an SSL certificate. Then click on the padlock icon in the address bar to view the certificate information.
• On the internet people have a short attention span, so your website needs to be fast. Check the performance of your website here. Does your website get an “A”?
  

• Like a book, every web page has a title that helps Google identify what it is about. It’s the most important real estate on every web page, but you won’t see it on the page! The Title Tag is easy to identify by hovering your mouse over the tab in your browser. Does your page title simply state “home” or does it have a carefully formulated unique sentence of about 65 characters to show what the web page is about?
• Have you ever wondered how Google knows that the numbers on your website indicate a phone number? A file on your website contains metadata that shows the name of your company, your address, products and services etc. Here is where you find your structured data schema information.

This is by no means a complete list, but if you score well on the below points, then chances are that your web developer has done what is needed. If your website fails even one of these tests, then chances are that your website can be improved to do a better job at generating leads for your business!

Does your website appeal to your Ideal Client?

Many people never take any action on your website. They remain anonymous visitors instead of self-identifying as a lead by filling in a form or calling your number.

It’s important for business owners to realize that their web visitors are not there to read about their products and services, but rather to find a solution to their problem or desire. The message is that your website is not for you, it’s for your ideal clients. Having an online brochure for your company really is just navel-gazing…

So, how do you create an online presence that generates leads for your business and converts them to clients? Here are the main ingredients:

• Does your website tell a story from the perspective of your client? Successful websites clearly identify the target audience and their pain points, and then set up to address the need and explain how they solve the problem. Here is the acid test: if your website focuses on who you are and what you do, then there is an opportunity to improve!
• Does your website give a clear plan to solve your client’s problem? Clients don’t want to know all the details of what you will do for them, they simply want to see a process of 3 or 4 steps that gets them from where they are now, to where they want to be.
• Do you provide a bold Call To Action? Potential clients usually do not take action unless you challenge them to do so. Make it easy for them by clearly laying out how they can contact you.

• Are you making the decision easy for your clients? People tend to be afraid to choose the wrong solution. Is there a warranty you can give them to make the choice easier? This could be a trial period, or a clear return policy.
• Are you showing your authority? Visitors to your website want to be comforted that you are the right partner for them. Give them trust and show them your authority and reputation with testimonials from your clients, certificates, achievements, case studies etc.
• Does your website include video content? Currently about 80% of online traffic is video content. Viewers will retain your message much better when they watch it in a video, and often don’t even read all the content on your page.

Again, this is not a complete list, but if you keep these main points in mind then your website is set to appeal to your ideal client, and will perform much better in generating new leads for your business.