You have an attractive, well-branded website that has been working for you for years. Check that one off your to-do list, right? Wrong.
Your website should evolve as your business does. Just because your contact information, logo and corporate colors are accurate doesn’t mean your website is up to date.
Your website is the hub of all your marketing efforts and as such, it should be ever-changing. You enter new markets, introduce new products and services and promote geocentric capabilities. The website should be updated to reflect these changes as well as new campaigns and company achievements.
When you add a new product or service, do you produce a brochure first and think of your website later, if at all? When you hit an industry record, is it reflected on your site? If not, you are falling short on one of the must-haves for any business-to-business website – ongoing content updates.
Oftentimes, even with a web platform that allows easy updates, companies will fail to maximize their website as a marketing tool by simply allowing their site to be good enough as is. With time at a premium and competitors coming from all directions, it is even more essential to offer reasons for people to type in your URL. Why should a customer or prospect visit your website for the first time…or a second? If you cannot think of a single reason, then you need to immediately begin generating useful content.
Posting an About Us page, your contact information and a Products and Services section is no longer enough. What essential information can you share with your customers and prospects online and how can they communicate with you through your website? Is there something customers and prospects can do on your site, such as see how a tool was used in a specific application or test their knowledge on shale terms? Consider providing user friendly, interactive content that shows and tells your strengths.
Soliciting content ideas from customers, prospects, sales team members and field engineers will help generate a steady flow of new content for your website. Generating ongoing content that is search-friendly is essential.
Creating a two-way channel is the ultimate goal. Try asking your customers what they’d like to see online. For example, do you have data you can share online or a formula calculator they’d find essential? Post this on your website to give customers a reason to return to your site and offer ways they can provide feedback and contact you easily.
Offering ways to contact you serves another purpose – filling your sales funnel. Lead-generation capabilities are available with nearly all web platforms, including customizable contact forms to get downloadable content, buttons to set up a meeting with one of your sales team members and forums to seek advice from your knowledgeable experts. These are all avenues that, if followed up properly, could turn into sales and new customers.
Finally, track where viewers gravitate and follow up on leads and feedback. Consider this part of providing good customer service.
Set goals for your website and monitor your success. What do you want customers and prospects to do on your website? Do you want them to watch a product demonstration or submit a request for a proposal?
