With all of the marketing advice floating around the Internet, it’s likely that you have either the wrong idea about your website goals or just no idea at all.
This is sad, because utilized properly, your website is core and central to your “marketing machine.”
I’ve been there as well. Before I integrated web design as part of my business model, I was focused exclusively on tech repair and barely paid any attention to marketing the business.
Despite having built websites for many years prior to that point, my website was not properly focused.
I had goals for the site, but they represented the false misconceptions that many of you probably have also.
Misconceptions like,
- Believing that my website needed more traffic.
- Believing that my customers would just show up there.
- Believing that somebody actually cared about my business.
I hope I’m not breaking any hearts here, but these misconceptions are terribly misguided, simply unsupported, and worst of all–quite selfish.
The truth is that the real goal of your small business website actually has nothing to do with you or your business.
In fact, the real goal of any small business website can be summed up in just three words: provide more value.
Simply put, value is what gets the job done in 2017. Everybody is tuned into WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). And believe me, every visitor to your website is immediately looking for a reason to stay longer than four seconds.
If they don’t find it–they’re gone!
What’s interesting is that when you make value your goal, all of those things you thought were the primary goals of your site simply become the results of hitting your true objective: providing more value!
Here are three simple reasons why your website focus must shift TODAY in order to get your small business marketing right:
1. Value is Vital to Attention
If you’re not providing value for your prospects, there just simply have no reason to visit your website. Trust me–their options are not limited. In most cases, there are 100’s (maybe even 1000’s) online doing exactly what you do, and somehow, you’ve got to stand out from the crowd. In traditional advertising, it used to be “whoever yells the loudest for the longest wins”–but it’s not that way anymore. You simply have to have the knowledge, be willing to communicate it, and then actually communicate it well! This is what will draw attention to your business over your competitors’.
2. Value is Vital to Comprehension
Once your prospect lands on your site, what then? Value itself can be packaged in a variety of different ways. The question you need to ask is, “Can my customers clearly comprehend the value I am attempting to communicate?” Because if they can’t–it’s not actually value because it’s not valuable to them! If you have great information to share with your prospects, but you cannot share it with them in a way that makes sense or is easy for them to consume (hint: free, simple, easy, highly readable/watchable/listenable), they won’t get much value out of it and they will be gone!
3. Value is Vital to Retention
The purpose of a good marketing strategy is to keep prospects coming back for more until (and after) they turn into customers. If you offer them something useful once, but never again, why do you expect they will return when they’re in the buying phase? You should be putting new content out continually and consistently (there’s a difference)–and, you should deliver it to your prospects in the most convenient way possible (hint: you need their email address!). If you can do this, you will have them coming back for more. The content will be valuable for them, and the  relationship will be valuable for your business.
[bctt tweet=”The purpose of a good marketing strategy is to keep prospects coming back for more.” username=”northmacsvc”]
It’s no longer enough just to sell a good product or offer a good service. Yes–the product/service needs to be outstanding, of course!
But you need to prove yourself before the sale. This is what value is all about.
Not sure where to go from here? Give us a holler! We’ll have your website churning out value and bringing in customers in no time!
Discussion Question: What successful strategies have you used to provide more value for your customers? Let us know in the comments!
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