In this increasingly digital world, our websites have become more
complex. They carry the weight of both messaging and SEO, and a hidden
structure of tools and analytics designed to enhance analytics and
promote lead generation. At least that’s how it is supposed to work. How
can you know if your website is just limping along or if it is a
lead-generating competitive tool to engage with prospects?
These 12 questions will help evaluate your foundation and tools and
take an objective assessment of what prospects see and experience when
they visit your site.
1. Are you using a Content Management System (CMS) and Google analytics?
Best practices for websites have changed substantially over the last
5-10 years. To be agile and responsive to market changes, you need the
flexibility to quickly add new content and you need to be using
analytics that track visitor engagement.
2. Is there robust rush hour traffic to your site or sleepy weekend traffic?
Analyze site visits over the past year. Your website SEO needs to
engage the eyes of bots that roam the internet and grab links to content
that is then indexed for search terms. If the number of visitors to
your website is trending downward or flat you may need to refresh your
keywords and add long-tail search terms.
3. Is there content on your site that engages prospects at all stages of the sales funnel?
Prospects are out there searching. Do an asset inventory to determine
if you have the right mix on your site to engage at top level searches
(white papers and blog articles), middle stage searches (case studies
and infographics, check lists and Best Practices), and the
decision-making stage (offers, promotions, demo’s).
4. Is the site navigation providing enough breadcrumbs to encourage a long visit?
Think like your current clients and prospects. Can they easily move
around the site to find what they are interested in and get back to the
home page? Orphan pages that lead nowhere are lost opportunities and
shorten visits to your site. User-friendly is not an overused term. Use
Google Analytics (it’s free and a must have) to understand your site’s
performance characteristics.
5. Do you have compelling Calls-to-Action?
Call-to-Action buttons (CTA) are just that: offers to site visitors
to take an action: sign-up for a demo, view a webinar, or download
asset. CTA buttons are designed to quickly build curiosity and connect
visitors to your content. When done strategically, these buttons begin
the process of driving leads into the sales funnel. You should have at
least one on every page – and the CTA should relate specifically to the
information it is located near. Look through your prospects’ eyes at
what they are seeing and evaluate whether the CTA buttons are compelling
enough to spark action. Better yet – test! Try different colors and
words in each offer and change page placement to see what gets the most
“click-through” activity. And no…”Contact Us” is not a CTA.
6. Does the website design support the story of what you sell?
Evaluate whether the colors and images still look fresh. Those
stereotypical avocado green appliances from the seventies look funny for
a reason. They are out-of-date and out-of-use. Don’t get stuck in your
own “70’s.”
7. When is the last time buyer personas were updated?
Buyer personas should be refreshed regularly. New decision-makers and
influencers emerge and you cede ground to competitors by ignoring this
important step since buyer personas are crucial to creating engagement
with both effective keywords and copy.
8. Is the website copy engaging to prospects?
Is the copy clean and crisp? Is the voice friendly and comfortable
for prospects? It’s a sad waste of SEO, tools, and navigation efforts if
you get the prospects to the site but either put them to asleep, offend
them, or do not connect with them.
9. Have there been substantial changes to your organization?
Take a look at your “About Us” section. Does it reflect your current
company personality and personnel? Does it reflect in quick and
engaging copy what your company does – and why visitors should care?
Sometimes growth happens so quickly these important changes get lost.
10. Have there been changes to the products or services offered?
Sit in the prospect’s chair and see if what your website tells you is
an accurate reflection of what is being sold. Scrub your site for old
services and products you no longer offer. It’s easy to get sleepy and
not trash-can what is no longer available. Or perhaps a segment of your
business has taken off since your last website refresh and needs more
prominence. Make sure your website messaging and product/services
section is telling the true story of what you offer.
11. Is there an effective mix of social media buttons so that blogs and other content can be easily shared?
Prospects should not have to get out a map and a flashlight to share
content or sign up for your blog. WAIT! If you don’t have a blog,
that’s a big red flag for today’s B2B websites. If you need proof.
Make sure your social media buttons are prominently displayed and give
some thought to which ones to feature. Choosing the right ones goes back
to the buyer persona. Is your buyer likely to engage in Facebook to
share info on your content? If not don’t include the button.
12. Is your website mobile-friendly?
Prospects increasingly search for information on smart phones and
tablets. Your website should have a responsive design that makes the
experience interactive and viewer friendly on a variety of mobile
devices. Many companies are going the next step and creating dynamic
mobile apps for their services.
A thorough evaluation of your website will likely bring you to a
decision point: refresh, renovate, or start over. Whether you decide to
bury the old site and start fresh or simply facelift the site you have,
answering these questions before starting the process will help ensure
that the changes you make are not just cosmetic. Meaningful changes
aimed at lead-generation take a lot of planning and research before a
word of copy is written or an image is chosen.
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