What Makes a Great Website, Part Two

This is our second part of a two-part series outlining what makes a great website. You can read part one here. 

Once you’ve learned the basic elements of constructing a good website, think about what can be added to make it a great website – robust content, interactive graphics, answers to questions, and customer feedback. Incorporating these pieces may take some time upfront, as well as monthly maintenance, of course, 100th Monkey can assist you with your content needs  if it’s just not your thing! 

Below are some really great additions to a website:

A blog. One of the very best ways to enhance any site is by adding a blog! It provides visitors more content to digest, provides business owners an opportunity to showcase their talents, and helps raise a company’s status on search sites. Google crawls sites often looking for new content and updated information; Google is an avid reader! Consistently adding new content to a site updates the list of results that are seen when conducting a search, and lends to better SEO (search engine optimization) results! Blogs don’t have to be long or complicated. Speak in your own branded voice, and write about topics that pertain to your business and that show off your Unique Selling Proposition. Aim to blog at least once, if not twice or more per month. This will gain readership and leads. Need help with blogging? We can do that, too!

Raving testimonials from clients. Definitely include testimonials. When a client compliments the amazing things your company has done for them, potential new clients will feel much more at ease knowing that this isn’t your first rodeo. If you don’t have any current testimonials, reach out to clients and ask for a testimonial. Even better, write up some testimonials for them to use or tweak to make them their own. Though many of your clients would love to provide a testimonial, not all of them are comfortable with writing.

Frequently asked questions, with answers. Business owners find themselves answering the same questions over and over again. This could be a signal that site visitors might not be getting all of the information they’re coming to find. Creating a quick list of questions with answers will help potential clients get a full picture of what you do, how you do it, and how much it might cost them. It also shows transparency in your business, which also lends itself to better relationship building. 

News or updates. If you have a lot of new projects or clients, or even if you want to show off professional accolades, a news or updates page is the perfect spot! These updates are more PR-related than blog posts, and can serve a lot of different purposes. If your policies or procedures are changing, you’ll want to note that in a few different places on your site. A news feed can serve as ground zero for these types of updates. Keep the updates short and to the point. 

Completed client or project work, and a scope of services. On top of having great testimonials, show off your company’s work! Create a slideshow or video to highlight bits and pieces of amazing work and embed the link on your site. When potential clients see high-quality, detail-oriented work, it gives them an idea of what to expect in any finished product you create. Be sure to include a list of services as well; this will inform clients of what you can and cannot do. 

Information on your staff or team. Show off the faces behind your company! Even if the sole face is just yours. Give a little insight into where you came from, your professional and educational background, and what you like to do in your spare time. Sharing information around who helps your business tick will enchant visitors and help to build better relationships in the long run. 

A landing page. Landing pages are a great addition to marketing campaigns. These pages should be customizable, in order to fit whatever campaign is being run at any given time, and they serve to let you know your marketing is not only bringing in leads, but also getting conversions. The ideal sequence is that the ads you have out on social media and the internet, draw people to a landing page, where they can then enter their email address in order to receive a coupon, access exclusive content, sign up for an event/webinar, join a mailing list or whatever the goal of your campaign is. Once the information is entered, you have added a new name to your database that you can market to again and again. 

Links to social media pages. Include links to all of the social feeds you post to; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and wherever else you could have a community of followers. Be sure to keep the social pages active, though! Sharing bits of information on social feeds, and then linking to an article or page of your website, is a great way to encourage readers to read more about who you are. 

As you can see, building a website is no small feat! It involves a lot of planning, preparing, writing, and strategic thinking. This might not be something that’s in your wheelhouse, and we understand that! 100th Monkey is ready and willing to help you move through this project every step of the way. Let us know how we can help you today!