What should a professional service company’s website look like?
If one thing defines the web today, it is competition. If you want to stand out, you have to do much more than in the past. Twenty years ago it was OK to have any kind of website. Back then, you could get away with an ugly website your nephew designed.
An outdated and unprofessional website will hurt your business several ways:
- It will make your business seem unprofessional. Prospects look at your website and they will not do business with you if your website looks outdated or unprofessional.
- A website like that tells the world that your business is not a real business. You might be working hard helping your customers, but your website tells a very different story. Don’t let your website hurt your business.
- Poorly built websites will not communicate credibility. Let’s face it, your website is a credibility tool. It can build or hurt credibility.
- Outdated website rank poorly in search engines. Search engines like Google penalize outdated websites.
Contact us today to get help with your website.
There are several components that make for a great web presence.
Design
It goes without saying that it’s a bad sign if your website looks like it was built in 1995. The days when “any” website would do have been long gone. You are going to have to try harder.
Today, your website must be mobile-friendly or responsive. A responsive site is one that adjusts to the size of the screen you are using. Simply, put your website will look equally good on a four inch monitor and a large screen.
There are several reasons you must have a responsive website:
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- 70 percent of people use their mobile devices to search the internet and that number only increasing. A responsive website will increase your site conversions. If you don’t have a responsive website will will lose business.
- Responsive is easier to manage because you only need one website. Companies used to have a mobile and a regular website. Businesses had twice the expense to deal with.
- A responsive website is easier to use and it will encourage people to use your site.
- Responsive is cheaper because you only have to have one website.
- Responsive websites have an SEO advantage. Google favors mobile-friendly websites. Your site will have better rankings and more traffic from the search engines.
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Content
Professional service companies should have authority websites. An authority website establishes your firm as an expert in your field.
You can establish your site as an authority website doing the following:
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- Frequently post new content to your website. Your website must be more than a static brochure. If you want your website to drive new business, you must add new content often.
- Write blog posts about your industry.
- Teach people through articles about your services.
- Show relevant information through videos and images.
- Create studies or white papers for people to read and download.
- Post to your social network accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and more.
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Optimization
The most important website optimization you can do is to include a lot of relevant content on your website. SEO today is not about stuffing keywords throughout your site. SEO is about great content and content promotion.
A well optimized website has the following characteristics:
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- Each page should have unique page titles. Your most important keywords should be in your page titles.
- Each page should have a unique meta description.
- Your images should be small, so they load fast.
- Responsive sites are a must if you want a well optimized website.
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