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Top 10 Website Mistakes Service Businesses Make
1. No Testimonials--People want to hear that other
people appreciated...liked...loved your service. They are buying a service...not a product they get out
of the box...so they need to be assured you or your employees perform
well. Don’t think of it as tooting your own horn so much as giving
your prospects assurance that they are buying a quality service.
2. No Names on the Testimonials--Look for people that
will give you their name unless your clients require confidentiality
like a psychotherapist or business coach. You lose some points for credibility
when you don’t include names.
4. No Contact Information Except on the Contact Page--Your
contact information should appear on every page. If you are a service business with a store
front or you have many weekly appointments then your phone and sometimes
your address should be in the top right most corner of your site. This
goes for salons, spas, dry cleaners, auto shops, veterinarians, and carpet
cleaners. Many times people will be going to your site for your phone
number or address. Make it easy for them to find you.
5. No Address or Even City on the Contact Iinformation--Lately
I’ve
seen a lot of sites with just a name and phone number. If you can’t
or don’t want to give your street address than rent a P.O. Box. What
kind of business can’t give their address or city? I know people do
this because they want to be sure no one comes to their home, but it
feels like something is being hidden. I won’t call someone if I can’t
see what city they are based in.
6. Not Updating the Website--If you aren’t updating your
site regularly it will stop pulling for you. If you let past
events linger past the date, people will notice no one is minding the
website. And if you aren’t
minding your website, it may look as if you aren’t minding your business.
The best way to accomplish updates is to pencil it into your calendar
each month or 4 times a year (for a brochure site) to review and update
the site. While you are at it, update the copyright each year, example,
copyright 2004-2008.
7. No Words on the Homepage--Some people want a high-visual
impact site with images and no words. The first problem with
this is that you lose the opportunity to control your marketing message
to your prospects. Once they leave the homepage they go to ANY page
on your site or OFF your site, so you have no control of what they
read. The second problem is that you diminish your changes to get
relevant search engine traffic because search engines are looking for
words on your homepage. They don’t
read pictures.
8. No Titles on Homepage--With no title your site
looks wimpy and is wimpy. It’s the words on your site that do the selling...use a title to reel
people in and hold their attention. That give you the opportunity to
talk to them.
9. Don’t Talk About Yourself First--We all know it’s
rude to just start talking about yourself and yet most websites do this. Instead
talk about your prospects first. Who do you help and what are the problems
they face? Then segue into your solution and then finally, who you are.
10. No Newsletter Sign up Box--On the one hand, in
2008 it's not as easy to get sign ups to your sign up box. A
few years ago you put up a sign up box and lots of people just signed
up. Now you have to offer something great that people REALLY want to
entice them to sign up.
Nevertheless, if you don’t try you are greatly limiting the
reach of your website. Sign ups on your site is the only way you can stay in touch
with visitors and cultivate prospects from your site. Yes, it may be harder
or the sign ups come slower BUT we are still talking about qualified people
who are interested in what you offer. Once they’ve given you their
emails, keeping in touch with them by email is one of the best and easiest
ways to promote your business.
So believe me on this one and think of something great you can offer in exchange
for email sign ups.
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