Whether the economy is up or headed into a recession, one of the most valuable pieces of marketing real estate you own is your website. When you spend a little time fine-tuning your site, it can consistently deliver solid returns in the form of leads.
A helpful Q1 activity is a thorough review of this primary communication (aka, marketing) channel – your website. Your website is not a “set it and forget it” presentation, as a tradeshow brochure may be. Your website should evolve with your sales messaging and solutions. It should reflect your business’s current marketing focus.
There are technical aspects to maintaining a healthy website. The site platform should be upgraded regularly to take advantage of technology improvements. However, before you invest in additional web technology, beyond what may be necessary to stay upgraded, there are a number of ways to apply internal resources to improve your site.
Start by thinking about the “controllable” elements of Internet algorithms: good content, accurate metadata, and a hosting location that matches your location/customer base. Evaluate how well your website is meeting those controllables for Search Engine Optimization. (SEO = making sure Google, or Bing or even Yahoo - can find your site when people search for your type of offering.) Your marketing team or agency should be able to use a few easily accessible tools to review the metadata and hosting. Next, you must consider the actual experience (UX) people have with our website, especially if it is a venue for sales.
Consider the site’s current content. How well does your website communicate what you offer, what you do, for whom you do that work or provide that product and/or service? How well does it communicate how you can help? Does it communicate how customers’ business will improve with the use of your product or service? This type of review is a great place to unleash internal resources. Your customer service and sales teams know the kinds of questions prospects and customers have.
Look at what you expect site visitors to do. Are the on-page calls to action (CTAs) still appropriate? Are the service or product offering accurate? Has your sales team reviewed them to see if the CTAs are consistent with how they sell or questions they are asked?
Review what happens after customers or potential customers interact with your site. Are there automated responses that go out after website actions? Q1 is an excellent time to review those interactive details for brand tone and correct information. What do those look like? Is there visual consistency? Is the language correct? Do you have newer support materials? Is the information provided still appropriate? Is there additional information you should provide? (Pro-tip: Check in with your customer service people. It’s likely they have invaluable information about what new or additional information would help customers.)
Finally, ask yourself how do you attract traffic to your website? Especially in 2023, that’s a critical question. Think about the action of bringing people to your site. How will you get them there? Run ads? Write online pieces – for your site or someone else’s? Consistent communication about your product and services will help. Telling the same message in different ways. Sharing the same message across different channels.
When you chart your 2023 strategy and are trying to out-plan a potential recession, your website is the first place to look when you aim to improve the consistency of your communications. The website and any touchpoints that come from the website interaction are the first impression many people will have of your company. Take control of your website’s messaging and let 2023 be the year that we all unlock our websites' maximum efficiency. What are you ready to do differently?
Alexandria Trusov is the Global Marketing Director at Alpha Resources and a B2B marketing consultant to manufacturers and other B2B companies. Contact her at [email protected] or visit www.truinsightsconsulting.com.