Website design in San Antonio is something that a lot of business owners overlook. Let me explain what I mean. Any one can create a website with a lot of DIY options like page builders and also several platforms where you can get one done for a very low price. So if the above is the case, why would you invest a lot of money in a website? Let’s explore the answer.
First thing that comes to mind when talking to a business owner about how things are going is, and how is your website performing? Is it bringing in any leads or sales? Most of the times the answers we get is that they don’t know and guess that they are getting a small amount of leads from it every month but nothing concrete. So if you invest all this time and money in getting a website online and it is not helping your business, what was the purpose behind it? Why do it at all?
Small businesses struggle a lot when they get to a certain point and often wonder why or what they can do to overcome the challenges they are facing. If you think about it, everything today is on the internet and everyone is searching for what they need online. If you are relying too much on just word of mouth and not getting leads or sales from some online source, then you are missing out big time.
Some common problems we see with small businesses is that they struggle with:
- Getting online leads or sales
- Being able to measure their online sources to know what is performing and what is not
- losing time and money maintaining a web presence that is not helping their business
- losing potential customers to their competitors without even knowing it.
So how do you remedy the problems above? The answer is to change your mindset. Look at things from a different angle. If you hire someone for your business, would you pay them even if they just sat around doing nothing? Absolutely not. And when you hire, you are looking for good talent, someone that will contribute and bring value to your business. Someone that will make your job easier not harder, yet when talking about your business website, business owners seem to forget all of the above.
what should a website actually do for my business?
Your website should be the home of your business online. It should perform by either sending you leads, or making sales for you while you sleep. If it is not doing either of those things, then it’s time to think of why not. The answer is simple, while anyone can build a website, not everyone can design a website that converts and actually sells and captures leads.
For example, if you have someone that has a lot of experience in the car industry and knows his stuff, then selling cars may not be very difficult for that person. But if you place someone with no sales experience and that knows nothing about cars, will that person be able to sell? Probably not.
When it comes to good web design we are talking about the same principal, a good website should help your business in the selling process. I usually say that businesses should think of their website as their most valuable employee. The website should be their main sales and marketing system that is there to educate their potential customers, filter out people who are not a good fit and convince your target audience to contact you.
Unfortunately, I see many small businesses have a website just for the sake of it, so they can appear professional if someone would actually look them up. But if someone does look you up, what is the impression that you are making? How many people find out about you, look you up only to still go to your competition? If this is happening, then your website(sales system) is not doing its job.
what does good web design look like?
When talking about a good website or good web design, I am not talking about cool features and the number of pages. A good web design has a plan behind it. Every page exists for a purpose and every section within each page plays an important role in the sales process.
Think about it, if you are dating, you don’t ask them to marry you on the first date. Sales is similar in the sense that you can’t ask someone to buy right off the bat without having built some kind of relationship and trust with your client. A website should do just that. Build the relationship with each person who visits, letting them know what you do, how you can help them and what to do next in order to get that help. And if someone is not ready to buy, to have some contingency plan to collect their details so you can follow up with them later in hopes they do become a customer down the line.
Tell me, what plan is behind your business website? What is the sales process that your website is guiding your potential customers through? What happens next once a person visits your website? And finally, how are you measuring all of the above so you can analyze and decide what is working and what is not based on real data?
If you can’t answer the above questions, I would say your resources are better off spent somewhere else. Don’t waste time and money in something that is not giving you a return on investment. Sure everyone is online now, but they are there for a reason. What is your reason?
How can you leverage good web design in our San Antonio Texas market?
One thing I always recommend our clients is to look at their competitors. What do their websites look like? Show those websites to other people and ask them for feedback. What is good about them and what is missing. With this valuable information, you can have a very good idea of what your website needs to include in order to be better and stand out.
As far as our local market of San Antonio Texas, I see a lot of businesses making the same mistakes when looking at their websites. All the content and focus is on the company and not on the client. Remember, you are designing the website for your customers, not for you. When your website only talks about your business, your services, you are not communicating anything different than the majority of businesses out there. If you change your focus, you are sure to gain an advantage. What do I mean with this?
When you look at your website, do your eyes get confused and don’t know where to look and can’t really read anything at first glance because there is just too much going on? A confused customer will not buy. Within 5 seconds on your website, a customer should be able to know what you do, what’s in it for them and how to get your product or service. The last part of how to get your product or service is what we call the call to action, what does the customer need to do next in order to solve their problem. If after 5 seconds people can’t tell you that, then your web design needs some work.
Do the same experiment with websites from your competitors, can you get all the needed information in those first 5 seconds? Those first seconds are crucial because it will determine if the person will stay on your page and read on. If they do stay and read the next section, what is that next section supposed to do? That is the idea. You don’t want to just fill out your page with your services, the history of your company, the qualities you have because those things don’t interest your customer. The only thing your customer cares about is if your product or service solves his problem. So is your website communicating this in a clear way?
If your message is clear, your pages are not cluttered, easy to read and you have a clear call to action, your web design is already better than 90% of business websites in San Antonio Texas.
I have a well designed website, now what?
Remember the saying “if you build it, they will come”? it is not true. If you open a physical store, with no sign and no flyers or any indication that it exists and it’s open, how are people going to find it?
With a website, the same principle applies. You created a website and now it is online, but what are you doing to get your website out there and help people find it? Even if your website is great, if no one visits it, then you will not sell anything. The other piece of the puzzle is to remedy that problem. As a business, you have to have a plan to drive traffic to your amazing website so it can help your business.
This is where digital marketing comes into play. You have to have some kind of strategy to drive people to your website. It could be paid ads in Google or facebook, search engine optimization, or as simple as including your web address in your business cards, email signatures and any other asset you use in your business on a daily basis.
Conclusions
In conclusion, there is a great opportunity in our local market of San Antonio Texas. Businesses rely too much on word of mouth, social media and try to spend as less as possible and still expect to grow. Do you see the problem? As a business owner, you have to decide what to invest in. Is a website that actually works worth the investment? Absolutely!
Of course, to create the sales and marketing system we have talked about in this article requires a lot of time which business owners don’t have and they shouldn’t do anyway. Remember, your time is precious and anything you can, you should delegate or outsource so you can start enjoying your weekends again.
Imagine how your business would change if your website can provide you with a predictable number of leads or sales each month? How would your day change if you can work less because your website is doing the heavy lifting for you?
My guess is that is just how you imagine your perfect world. Not having to worry each day about getting more work, about how you are going to survive this month and having to work 12 hours a day because you can’t afford to bring on additional staff to help with the load.
People can be searching on google and finding your website, buying your products or booking appointments all while you sleep. You can wake up the next day with more money in the bank and a calendar full with appointments. The heart and center of all of that is your business website.
You deserve that peace of mind so why not make it happen? Dominate your industry in San Antonio. Expand your online presence to all the platforms relevant to your industry and where your target audience hangs out. Making it easier for the people you want to attract to find you. This will make your job easier and your life better.
