Why You Need a Website That Doesn't Suck

Y’all, I can’t tell you how important having an awesome website is. It’s a key piece of any digital marketing strategy, and it does a lot more for you than you might think.

First of all, it’s how people find you and learn more about your products and services. In addition to having a Google My Business listing, your website is a key piece of your local search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing strategy.

What’s local SEO? It’s the way local customers find your business. This is so, so, so important y’all, especially if you’re a brick-and-mortar biz. If you want to show up on Google and Bing when someone searches for the kind of products/services you sell, you better have a website.

Google My Business isn’t enough. That’s just the tip of your online marketing iceberg. People need more than that, and so does Google. People need to have a place to go to learn more about you. And on top of that, most people just ain’t gonna make that purchase if they don’t have a way to contact you online.

But that’s not the only benefit of a website y’all. A website also helps you build your brand. You do that by creating content (which also happens to bring in that sweet, sweet search traffic).

Content Is King—it’s the way you show the world that you’re an expert in what you do and that you know what you’re talking about.

What kind of content? Anything you’re awesome at.

Let’s talk about it.

Why Content Is King—Branding and Traffic

Does creating content work? Check out these stats:

77% of internet users read blogs.
Companies who blog get 97% more links to their websites.
SEO (blogging) leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate.
72% of online marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic.

Convinced? I hope so. If you’re on board here, you need to be creating unique content.

Unique content does two things for you.

First, it helps you generate traffic. When you create content that people are looking for, they come to your website.

What kind of content should you create? Think about it like this—if you look on Google and spend some time figuring out what people are searching for in relation to what you do, then you can figure out what kind of content they’re looking for (and what kind of content you can create that lines up with that).

So that could be a video. It could be a blog post. It could be a podcast. You figure out what content you’re most comfortable making, and then you go out there and make it happen.

Second, it shows off your brand. It shows that you’re an authority on a topic—that you know what the heck you’re talking about. When you keep putting out content on a certain topic, those crazy algorithms start to learn that you’re an expert on that topic.

And that content needs to be unique. It needs to be your brand. People need to feel your brand just oozing out of that content. It needs to be something only you could make.

That cookie-cutter crud just isn't going to fly anymore when it comes to local search. I see this happen a lot in some industries, like Real Estate and Legal. It's out-of-the-box content that they just copy and paste across different websites.

Huge no!

Not just for Google (Google ranks content that’s unique and relevant, which means putting out the cookie-cutter stuff doesn’t do anything for your search traffic), but y’all it's just rude to your customers and future customers!

Your website is an opportunity to showcase your brand and speak to your target audience. Speak their language in the way only you can.

Creating custom content unique to you is just a win/win. Yes it takes time, but the great thing is you can use this as a foundation for a plethora of other marketing initiatives.

Repurpose that content! You can take that blog post and use it as the basis for an email newsletter. Or you can transcribe that podcast and turn it into a blog post.

Speaking of newsletters, y’all—these are great tools for generating even more epic leads for your business. Newsletter signups allow you to build rapport with that future prospect.

It's pretty much a lead if you're doing it right.

There are so many options when it comes to content y’all. Put on the ole thinking cap and see what you can come up with.

Content isn’t the only way that your website showcases your brand—the way it looks and feels is just as important.

Make It Look Professional and Awesome

When people come to your website, if it doesn’t look totes profesh, then they’re going to click away and never look back.

38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.
Judgments on a company’s credibility are 75% based on the company’s website design.

If your website is ugly, people are gonna judge you folks, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.

A beautiful website is only the beginning. A good website showcases your vibe. Yes, it needs to have epic content, but it still needs to look good.

(If you’re ready to get an awesome, beautiful website that doesn’t suck, drop a girl a line.)

Making that website beautiful isn’t the only thing you need to do —you need to tell folks what to do when they’re there.

I know it sounds a little bossy, but it’s true! People appreciate it when you help them understand how to take the next step.

That means you need a clear call to action (CTA). A clear CTA ensures your visitors don't get lost.

What do you want them to do? That should be clear—front and center.

Contact you?

Buy something?

What's your primary goal when someone visits your website? Make it obvious.

The Technical Stuff

When you’re choosing what to name your website, keep that URL as simple as possible. The longer it takes to type that sucker in, the more annoyed your customers are going to be.

Did you hear from some SEO “expert” that the longer the URL is, the more it helps with search?

Sorry to burst your bubble, not a thing.

Your URL should be easy to remember, easy to type, and relevant to your business. Simple is better.

We also prefer to stick to a .com or .org if you can swing it—don’t try to get fancy y’all.

Designing your website with a mobile first strategy is key!

Now I shouldn’t even have to be saying this in 2022, but the fact is that your website had better be mobile responsive.

That means your website automatically adapts for cell phones, tablets, and any other screen your customers might be using.

I mean, the idea of mobile responsive sites became a thing almost 20 years ago, so… get it together y’all.

Plus, when Google decides how to index your website—when it’s trying to decide if you’re worthy of being on the Big G—it looks at the mobile version of your website and pretty much ignores the desktop version.

It’s mobile-first for Google, which means it better be mobile-first for you.

Here’s a quick pro tip and you may not like me fore saying this but, you need to update your website at least every 3 years.

I mean, I get it—it’s an investment and a pain in the butt, but it's an investment in one of the greatest digital marketing tools you have!

It should be the hub of your marketing strategies, so it's worth it.

Driving traffic back to your website just makes sense, and so it needs to showcase the current YOU!