Have you started your business out on its online digital marketing journey? Congratulations! We would like you to pause and think just a bit. Did you start out right? Many eager entrepreneurs overlook the crucial first step of their digital marketing plan.
It is imperative to get the first step right for business success in today’s hyper-connected, Internet-saturated world.
The first step, the heart of your digital marketing focus should be your website. Yes, you heard that right. Not your Facebook page, not your brand’s Twitter feed, not even the Instagram jazz. The first step of any great online digital marketing plan is getting your website visitor-ready.
Let us give you a simple checklist of 6 things you need to get right for your website.
1. Is your website mobile ready?
No. Mobile responsive website cannot be done later. Not after your soft launch, not after 6 months, not after the first sales gateway kick-off. We are heading into 2019. You need to begin with a mobile-ready website.
More than half of your website visitors are likely browsing your website on a mobile.
If your website isn’t mobile friendly, your visitors will happily skip off to a competitor’s website. Don’t fall under the trap of starting with a conventional website and upgrading to mobile readiness. That comes at the opportunity cost of great business.
2. Does the website load under 2 seconds?
Our attention spans are shrinking. 2 seconds is the average time taken to watch Facebook videos. Do you think your website stands a chance if it takes longer than that to load? Optimize your website to load fast. Do not be fearful of the term optimization. You don’t need an IT army, we promise.
All you need are some simple plug-ins and you can watch your website loading time drop faster than leaves in the fall. A touch of image compression, some nifty header rearranging and watch the magic of a quick loading website.
3. Is your website armed with easy-to-fill forms?
You need forms! 63% of consumers reported engaging with local businesses mainly through their websites1. A great website can help generate interest in your business.
Develop the website and equip it with simple forms for various functions. Forms can collect basic information about site visitors, their email ids, their interest in the website whether for information about a particular product/service or communicate their need to contact someone for more details.
Make the forms simple and easy to fill. Nothing puts visitors off faster than complicated forms. You can also add Google analytics to your website and your forms too. Analyze your web traffic along with forms data easily to gain more insights on who is interested in your business.
1 [Local Search Association report, USA, April 2017].
4. Does your website help you with lead qualification?
All the work that needs to be done on qualifying leads should be done by the filled-out forms on your website and the visitor analytics. A website can be a powerhouse of analytics. The analytics can help you gauge the lead potential. A visitor may be just a casual visitor, a potential discount hunting lead or someone seeking higher levels of service.
The visitor’s activity on the website and the details filled in on the forms can help segment leads effortlessly. Invest in the analytic prowess of your website. Your investment will be worth it.
5. Is your website using a reliable payment gateway?
If your website is also your E-commerce sales channel, then you need to carefully review the payment gateways listed on your website. Using little-known payment gateways can undermine the credibility of your website and hurt your sales potential. Transaction drop-offs can happen when visitors come across a payment gateway that they don’t know or trust.
This juncture of the transaction is critical. Cart abandonment during check out often hurts immediate as well as long-term business potential. Use only popular, trusted payment gateways or credible payment forms. They build credibility for your website as well.
6. Have you tested your website?
By this, we don’t mean just clicking on random links and checking the page content. You need to comprehensively test your website before you launch. You need to first do load testing which tests the website under regular conditions with an optimal number of visitors.
Then you need to stress test the website, especially if it has payment gateways to understand what happens to the website when the number of visitors or transactions goes way beyond what it is designed for. It is critical for image heavy and payment gateway equipped websites to be stress tested to determine data leaks, memory loss etc.
Checked these 6 items off your list? Now your website is ready to handle it all. After all, your website is at the heart of your business. Shouldn’t it be the main focus of your digital marketing plan too? Get your website right with this simple checklist and let your online marketing efforts reward you beyond your wildest expectations.
By the way, if your website is also your e-commerce sales channel and you’re looking for a safe and easy way to sell your products and services online—our forms can help you do just that.
Deborah Tayloe
Deborah is a blogger and freelancer who often writes for EmailMeForm. When she’s not blogging, you’ll probably find Deborah working on DIY projects around her home in North Carolina.
