In the second of a three-part series on how to maximise client website enquiries, Pascal Fintoni, a digital marketing trainer and speaker, explains the importance of updating your website.
The main challenge or risk of not putting sufficient time and effort in running your website is under-communication. In other words, leaving your prospective customer with unanswered questions and a feeling of doubt about what to do next.
What is needed is a system to support you and your colleagues in making regular and simple adjustments to your website content, and by extension, the overall website experience for your visitors.
One approach that could really support you and stimulate your creativity is to divide the content of your website into 3 main areas:
- Visual Content
- Promotional Content
- Social Content
Visual content is the term I would give to all of your photos, graphics and colour themes which have been selected and published for the ‘go live’ date and very often not updated or brought in line with current trends and preferences, the celebration now a distant memory.
Be honest, how recent are the photos on your website? How relevant are the various graphics and visual elements on your main pages?
Perhaps this is where you could start, an honest review of the recency and appeal of your visual content and the creation of a simple schedule to follow. The positive impact on you and the team as well as your customers cannot be underestimated. Think of it like the refurbishment and redesign of your favourite store.
Promotional Content is usually what most business owners think of first, and by in large the one area of the website that tends to be given a lot of attention with the application of the very helpful ‘features + benefits’ formula to describe what you do.
To avoid what we have called under-communication, we need to add greater clarity in terms of what we mean by promotional content, and instead of coming up with a convoluted definition I prefer describing the four key elements of your sales-focused website pages:
Products & Services – the webpages you will need to create and publish to explain not just what you can do for your customers, but also who you help, how you help them, why you help and what happens once you have helped them. Very much as you would do in a face-to-face conversation.
Biographies – future customers do like to know who is going to help them or find the person that was mentioned to them by one of your referrers. When was the last time you updated the Meet The Team page? Is the About Us section as comprehensive as it could be? Never neglect the human side of your website.
Track Record – it is always helpful and reassuring for a website visitor to learn about the stories of satisfied customers in similar circumstances or facing challenges they can recognise. What could you do to make the case studies more relevant? Do you need more recent testimonials? Should you consider a different rating system?
Call To Action – the final element of your promotional content which can often be a little overlooked. Let’s be frank, based on your own experience you will have to agree that most enquiry forms or contact us pages have the appeal of a tax return form. All jesting aside, what could you do to completely transform the very bland and mechanical feel of your most important webpages?
Social Content is the label I use for the content that will fuel the vast majority of your activities on social media, search engine optimisation and email marketing. This content type will also give you the opportunity to try out different formats from research papers to infographics, video interviews and podcasting.
You will have come across the term ‘blogging’ but I think it is an over-simplification and once again we need a description to really guide our efforts. Below are the four key elements of your traffic-focused website pages:
Industry News Round Up – curating and sharing the latest updates and changes in your sector is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to demonstrate how well-informed you are and by extension will encourage prospective customers to believe in you.
Expert Q&As – capturing and recording the many questions you find always answering on a daily basis is at the heart of social content. You can choose between content in the written form or video and audio series to showcase not just your expertise but your passion too.
Free Downloads – an extension of the expert Q&As and the perfect way to showcase your approach to customer service, the options range from a checklist, an online calculator, a free guide and more. Always a fun team project!
Company Updates – whilst not always the most interesting content for you, and sometimes a little awkward to get right, it is really valued by your website visitors who enjoy knowing that you are very active in your sector and the wide community.
There you have it, a logical system to support your content creation activities from planning to publishing. Today’s website content managers can access online solutions that really make life easier and help deliver that positive online experience for website visitors.
This is what we are exploring in Part 3, Essential Resources For Website Managers.Â
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Join Pascal and Ian Quayle, IQ Legal Training, on 28 October for their joint webinar on Websites and How to Attract Conveyancing Clients.
For more information about any of our courses, email us at [email protected].
About Pascal Fintoni
Pascal Fintoni is a senior digital marketing trainer and speaker with over 25 years experience in helping business owners get more enquiries from the Web. He started his career in London working for a well known holiday company creating campaigns for TV, radio, newspapers and of course the Internet. Pascal quickly developed a passion and unrivalled knowledge for the power of digital content in attracting the right audience and building a business you can be proud of.
Pascal runs his agency offering digital marketing training and consultancy services to clients across the UK and France. His professional experience spans the private, public and not-for-profit sectors with a proven track record in skills development, professional services, new media, ICT and software, tourism, manufacturing and business support.
His time is shared between speaking at conferences and delivering interactive and practical sessions on website experience, reputation management, SEO, social media and content marketing with a particular focus on video marketing.
Pascal is also a video producer and director and he has successfully introduced many of the storytelling techniques used by filmmakers into his coaching to help his clients create better online content faster.
Connect with Pascal on LinkedIn here.
