Alan Gayle is a sales and marketing consultant specialising in the construction industry. He has worked in the stone sector for more than a decade. Here he offers advice on how to make an impact in the market.
What Makes a Good Website?
People have written reams on this subject but I want to approach it from a basic perspective.
Before answering the question, you must first know the business model of the company and, just as important, the company’s objectives, both as a business and for the website.
Everyone working in a company will know their own business model – or, at least, they should.
The difficulty sometimes comes when you try to convey that to the people creating your website.
Even though it may be obvious to you that a conservation specialist is different to a restoration contractor, if it’s not understood by the people building your website, they might miss the mark. I’ve seen it happen time and again.
For example, having all the latest hi-tech website widgets on your site might well look impressive at first glance and it might be well suited to the computer games sector, for example, but is it appropriate for a stone specialist operating in a traditional market and trying to appeal to older, wealthier, more discerning clients?
Whoever you use for your web design, make sure they understand your business and the market it operates in. There are several reasons for this but the obvious one is that you will save a lot of time by having far fewer corrections and alterations to make if they do.
The other thing that is paramount is understanding the objectives of the business.
There’s no point paying for an
e-commerce website (one where customers can buy from the site) if you’re a contractor with an average invoice value of £10,000 or more. Who’s going to place an order over the internet for building services at that price point? Precisely no-one, that’s who. But I’ve seen contractor websites with e-commerce pages.
Make sure your website reflects your company’s objectives.
If you want to consolidate your position in your core market, make that the main focus. If you want to diversify into new products or services, focus on that. Your website is there to serve your business. With a little forethought you can avoid copying your competitors and falling into the same pitfalls they have. Instead you can create something of far more value.
What about the objectives of the website itself?
Assuming most readers have an average invoice value above £1,000 – and I know it will be well above that for many of you – your main objective should be to generate enquiries.
People are unlikely to spend thousands of pounds with a company they don’t know without talking to it. You’re not selling Nike trainers! People do not know your product. Potential customers are often using the internet for research, creating a shortlist. So you’ve got to get them talking to you – by email, on the phone, in your showroom, with live chat on your website (there are plenty of app providers with prices usually less than £10 a month). How they contact you isn’t important. Just get them to do it so you can start your sales process during those conversations.
One final tip for your home page.
I always say the home page has three key functions:
1) To confirm to visitors they’ve come to the right place.
2) To show them* (quickly) what you can do for them.
3) To tell them where to click for more information
*Notice I said show them what you can do for them, not show them what you do. This is an important distinction and something you should consider implementing if you want to improve your conversion rate.