Many small businesses have taken the step of establishing their online presence with a traditional website and/or a social media page. They spend time, effort and money to make this huge statement to the world. They then sit back and wait for the masses to come. Sadly, weeks of waiting for increased inquiries and sales turns into months and even years. At some point the business owner realizes the hard truth: very few people are aware of their website’s existence.

Let’s use an unrelated topic for illustrative purposes. Several months ago, I became obsessed with bird-watching. A friend gifted me with a beautiful bird feeder. I thought carefully about which tree in my yard I would place it in. I went to Lowe’s and selected seed that would attract the birds I longed to have visit me daily. After erecting the feeder and filling it up, I went up on my porch, sat in my white rocking chair and waited intensely. Hours went by. There were literally no birds, no chirping anywhere. My shiny bird feeder and fresh feed were completely unnoticed. Sounds familiar?

In this blog, we take a look at various ways to ensure your website is ready to attract visitors and convert them into new leads.

Targeted Content

Websites contain content that is directly visible to the viewer and also behind-the-scenes content. Both types of content are important because both send out signals. Many businesses have websites that provide great front-end messaging; however, the back-end messaging is completely neglected. Internet search engines operate on algorithms that recognize the back-end messages and forward results to viewers. If a website isn’t saying anything, then viewers have low potential of seeing anything.

As a business owner, it’s a lot of pressure if you are the only method of letting people know your website is up and running. Similarly, it would be silly for me to physically catch birds and make them perch on my bird feeder. I expect my seed choice to do the advertising for me. Likewise, the business owner should expect the content of their website to do advertising for them. Just like my bird feeder must contain certain seeds that attract certain types of birds, websites must contain specific back-end content that attracts certain viewers. This is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Having an un-optimized website is like having no website at all.

Pages and Posts fully optimizes all clients’ websites because it’s vital for success and impact.

Establishing Trust

When I reported to my friend that no birds came to partake of my seeds, she laughed and informed me that I had an unreasonable expectation. First of all, birds don’t just come and eat at new establishments! They have to check it out from afar for a while. They have to develop a trust for the new feeder and its surroundings. This can take a week. The same goes for new websites. Search engines and viewers want to make sure a website is secure and has consistent content. Pages and Posts ensures that our clients’ websites have security certificates and consistent, quality content. After we guide clients in creating great content, we submit the website to the top search engines. When search engines trust your website, potential customers will as well.

Polishing the Experience

Once people come to a business’s website, the next goal is to encourage them to linger there as long as it takes to get them to take the next desired step – to submit their email to receive additional information, pick up the phone and speak with you, or make an online purchase. The user experience on the website is of utmost importance. If the website navigation is too confusing, the content is boring or the website security is sketchy, the viewer will leave the site. Pages and Posts websites are designed with functionality and clarity as two of the top goals.

Knowing how to choose the proper seed, create a trusting environment and use a properly designed feeder leads to viewing amazing birds. Similarly, knowing how to disperse the necessary type of content, providing consistency that fosters trust, and ensuring a user-friendly experience leads to more website viewers and increased sales for your business.

“Knowledge is power” – Francis Bacon

Pages and Posts would love to put our knowledge and skills to work for your website. This will give you more time to sit on your porch and enjoy activities you love…like bird watching.