In today’s educated consumer focused climate, more people are opting for researching your company as much as possible before they contact you via your website.
Your potential customers are 80% informed and ready to buy before they get in touch. A potential customer will have looked through 20+ pages of content on your website before picking up the phone or messaging you.
That’s a lot of research!
So what does this say about the power of the website?
You need to be asking yourself if the content, design and message is projected in the best way possible. Remember, potential customers are most of the way through the buying journey before they even get in touch.
Gone are the days when the person on the other end of the phone is selling to you. Nowadays people educate themselves before making a purchasing decision, and by the time they call you, they’re ready to buy. You just need to get them over the line and convert them into a sale.
If your website can make or break the deal, you might not even be aware of the issues. A recent survey we did came back to say 80% of people who read the I Do Magazine checked out the company’s website before contacting them.
If your website isn’t up to scratch to receive potential custom, you’re missing out big time.
So what can we do to make sure a potential customer won’t bypass your business and seek out someone else?
We can break this down to:
1 – Content
2 – Imagery
3- Ease of contact
4- Style
5- Pricing
1 – Content
The best way to keep a potential client engaged is to have plenty of informational content on your website that couples can search for. Lets look at a décor company to give you an idea of what could be done.
A décor company could write articles about the latest trends, how to style a certain themed wedding, general wedding planning advice, tips to avoid wedding day stress, pros and cons of different centrepieces, etc.
This information could be posted monthly on a blog section on your website to build up content. Google loves new content.
2 – Imagery
The Biggest turn off for any potential customer is badly taken images. Weddings are all about the look and images that are badly taken will give the wrong impression to interested couples.
It’s easy to be blinded by the photos you’ve taken on your phone, but in reality, unless you’re a photographer with a keen eye for image composition, your images won’t give the desired impression to your potential customers.
Remember, 99% of weddings have a professional photographer that you might be able to use images from. There are also some tips and tricks to take photos yourself which I will cover in a later article.
4 – Ease of Contact
This is simple, make sure every page has a call to action. If the customer wants more info, you need to make sure they can contact you without leaving the page. Make it as easy as possible for them.
Some suppliers don’t put their phone number on their website to limit spam calls, but you’re also preventing your couples from calling you. Which would you rather have?
4 – Style
So you have the images and content sorted, the next thing to look at is the style of the site and ease of use. The layout and style are what brings all the elements together.
A great looking site that is easy to follow and navigate is critical to keeping your customer interested. Remember, you have 3 seconds to grab the potential customer’s interest and keep them on your site. Make it count.
5 – Price
Yes price, this may seem like a dirty word but in this day and age, it should be easy to get prices online or ask for them.
If a client is driven by cost, not having the price on will make no difference. Giving the price of your packages gives the customers more information so when they call you they have everything they need to make an informed buying decision.
Don’t be scared of talking about price on your website; if you can’t set prices to your services, explain why you price the way you do. Your couples will be grateful.
This is a brief outline of a good quality, effective website. In later articles I will look at breaking down each category and give a more detailed explanation.
If you would like more advice, contact me on heather@ido-magazine.co.uk or call me on 01226 704682 and I will be happy to give your website an audit.