When was the last time you redesigned your website?
Did you know that the lifespan of a typical website is only 1.5 to 2.5 years?
If your website…
- Is past its prime,
- Needs a facelift,
- Doesn’t run smoothly,
- Wasn’t set up with user experience in mind,
- Isn’t mobile-friendly,
- Or is just plain old-as-your-great-grandpappy,
…it could probably use a redesign.
Before you get overly excited (or stressed out), you need to take some time to develop a solid small business marketing plan.
And before you can develop that plan, you need to understand why that plan is essential to the future success of your business.
Why Your Small Business Website Needs a Marketing Plan
Your website has a ton of responsibility.
Today’s websites need to do many things – and do them well. If you’re still thinking of your website as a supercool yellow pages ad, you’re doing it wrong. Yellow pages were never supercool. Well, maybe when they were invented back in the 1800s. Not even kidding. That’s when they were invented.
You’ve probably heard by now that your website is your 24/7 salesperson. It needs to keep working while you’re taking time off in the evenings and on the weekends.
Your website doesn’t require nourishment or time off – so put it to work! Set it up right, and it’ll do its thing while you’re off gallivanting around the Grand Canyon or snorkeling off the coast of some remote island on the other side of the world. Internet access not required.
Your website is responsible for:
- Creating brand awareness
- Capturing visitors’ attention by showing the perfect solution to their problem
- Building trust
- Facilitating learning
- Demonstrating how your business can (and does) bring your clients results
- Housing entire sales transactions
- And _____________!!! (You fill in the blank.)
If your website isn’t taking care of essential business, you better include any and all gaps in your new marketing plan.
Here’s what your website redesign needs to include:
- A marketing strategy that kicks butt
- Questions your buyers are asking and goals they want to achieve
- SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals YOU want to achieve
- Search patterns
- Useful interactions
- Storytelling
- A design interface that makes it EASY for people to do and find what they need to
Good Web Design is Freaking Important
Here’s why, y’all.
1. It makes an excellent first impression and builds trust.
Websites with poor design, unclear navigation, confusing copy, and slow speeds scare people away. They just do. Don’t be scary.
Beautiful websites with helpful information, on the other hand, attract visitors. And once you’ve got ‘em, keep ‘em coming back!
Content is a great way to build trust with visitors by giving them free resources. These resources could include blogging regularly about important issues your target market is facing, sharing videos addressing pain points, or creating complementary infographics or ebooks people can easily download.
2. It brings you traffic.
A website should be optimized so people looking for your products and services online can find you instantly. You need to answer questions on your website thoughtfully and strategically. You need to build authority so you can compete against the other 1.74 billion websites on the internet. SEO is a fundamental component of bringing lots of traffic and qualified leads to your proverbial doorstep.
3. It will lead people through the buyer’s journey.
The buyer’s journey leads people through three main stages. First, they’ll become aware of a problem they have and start looking around to learn more (awareness stage). Next, they’ll pinpoint their problem and start researching ways to solve it (consideration stage). Finally, they’ll find and purchase the best solution they can find (decision stage).
Here’s how we like to break this process down:
- Awareness
- Exploring Solutions
- Comparing Vendors
- Purchase (Cha-ching!)
Your website should address individuals at every stage of the buyer’s journey. You need to show them you understand the problem they have and that they’re not alone. Then present some great options for dealing with that problem head-on. Lastly, you need to convince them why you (not your competitors) offer the best solution.
Let’s Create a Marketing Plan for Your Small Business
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
If you don’t know exactly how to move forward toward your goals, you won’t reach them! It’s as simple as that. Instead, you could end up wasting a lot of time spinning your wheels and spending too much money in the wrong places.
A marketing plan is like a detailed roadmap that tells your small business exactly what to do and where to go. Your website designer should walk you through all of the essential steps you need to take to ensure you have a clear plan of attack before the redesign even starts.
If it’s time for your droopy website to get its long-awaited facelift, Fingerprint Marketing is ready to work! Our strategists, designers, and developers will put on their thinking caps and come together to create one heckuva website plan for you.
Ready to get started? Book a consult with us today!