When you’ve been in business a long time, you start to see patterns and things that companies use to trick the unsuspecting buyer into believing in a problem when it’s actually more of a perception.
For instance, a tactic of (some) SEO companies is to say that ‘your website is not fast enough’ and that is the reason that you are losing thousands of customers.
Oh wow! Now, you’re a bit rattled. If that is your website’s diagnosis, what is the solution? The solution, apparently, is to enter into a long expensive contract and (in some cases) a complete website rebuild on a platform that leaves you locked in, unable to escape. Well, actually no, that would be insanity, so just say NO!
When looking at website performance, speed is an important factor BUT obsession with page speed checkers is a waste of resource. There are so many other things that, done well, can make a massive difference.
So, here are a few tips for the uninitiated…
1. Don’t build your site on a CRM platform.
Quite simply, there are people out there practicing certain dark arts otherwise known as “locking you in”. Imagine if you weren’t getting any results and you’d had a whole site built into a platform where, if you stop paying, you lose your website. I recently spoke to one company that had spent £60K via the retainer model and they still had no website!
We use WordPress and Elementor to build our sites and we don’t lock you into crazy monthly fees (yes, there will be a small monthly charge but it’s mainly for maintenance, leaving you free to spend more money on marketing and content creation).
2. Don’t buy into the speed lie.
Think Argos, for example. Their score for speed is in the red on mobile, yet they generate millions per year. Milliseconds don’t make a massive difference, but UI and UX does. If the user experience and interface are poor, then people will get lost travelling through your site. When we build sites, we invest in the user experience and the interface and you can track how they effective they are using basic tools.
3. Content is king.
Creating regular content is rewarded more than ad spend by Google, and by using SEO terms you have a great sustainable way of building traffic, rather than propping up poorly built sites by spending loads on ad traffic. There are some great people out there that can help you do a wise Ad spend and we collaborate with some of them. At heart though, we are all about adding value and that is why we will always champion creating content.
4. Invest in regular support.
It is standard in our industry for an agency to maintain a website that it has built. If a company wants to do its own hosting and doesn’t take care of their plug-ins, or they add more plugins without any consultation, then they’ll turn an optimised site into a mess. You wouldn’t service your own car, so why do the same for a website that comes at a similar cost?
Regular support includes analytics and planning around behaviour by users rather than assumptions made by the business owner with no data.
5. Story selling.
Your main focus here is always building around your story. Back up with testimonials and be very clear on what your value proposition is. EVERY site we build has the story at the heart of the brand and ultimately that is what people buy from you.
Think of a car showroom, it might look great from the outside, but the experience and the interaction are vital. IF you add a lot of extra educational content you ‘show’ as well as sell. Too many people want sales and shout services rather than leading with benefits, evidence and sharing how they have served clients. Having customers on video shows that you are 100% the real deal. No-one likes being in front of a camera, but the impact you have made makes all the difference.
6. Relationships come through care.
Our blogs are a way of helping people to stay informed, especially in the world of entrepreneurship. We hope that regular blogging will strengthen the connections we have made as a business. We don’t see a site going live as the end of the relationship, we work with you to grow your business because we care. Caring has been at the core of our marketing strategy for years and it’s because we care we have helped encourage businesses to become B-Corps, invest in networking, create new tools through R&D and link them to some of the best client service providers in our world. We are not just an agency, we are connectors, and we are linked to some extra special ‘super connectors’, like Introbiz.
7. Never ‘one and done’.
You may have never paid for maintenance of a website. If you rebuild one and have no support, the chances are that you’ll get decreasing returns on your investment. Software changes, browsers update and what was good a year ago might not be the best for now. This is why we work with our clients to make small, incremental changes.
We are about to launch our ‘Mix’ service that allows you to add bolt-ons to enhance your presence on the web world by using content and add tools without long contracts. This gives you the flexibility to scale in your quieter times and slow down when capacity is high.
Remember, while you are not investing in your website, someone else is investing in theirs and they are stealing your opportunities. Tech transforms and investing into it keeps you ahead!!!
8. Tools for you.
SEO checkers are a great idea. We use a tool called SEM Rush that helps us deliver an optimal launch experience and if you want to continue to invest, we continually run through the scores and make adjustments as we see fit.
We make sure to use a suite of tools to optimise your website for how Google will see it, with the user experience at the core of the build and an interface that enhances your brand rather than detracting from it.
So please, please, please don’t get suckered into the speed scam. People really do sell on ignorance and if you have any concerns please contact us. I knew one agency that added thousands of pounds to the quotes as a line item to ensure that sites were browser tested, when that should be standard!!
Our websites are tested for speed and we have to balance out creative impact (video), images and the platform itself, however, leading on speed is deceptive at best and creates unnecessary panic.
Our websites regularly score in the 90s overall on our SEO site checkers and that level of service is what we pride ourselves on. Well-built, story-led and content rich sites win over the SEO sharks preying on the innocent!
Upcoming Event: Purposeful Connections Masterclass
Friday the 23rd of September 2022 from 9-5pm | Calcot Manor
Start working with the clients you love and who pay your worth…
If we are honest as business owners we’ve all had those phone calls which cause our hearts to sink when we see the number appear. These clients demand way more than you agreed, want more for nothing and they don’t stick to the strategies that you have spent years crafting. There is another way!
So together with Cre8ion and Introbiz we are headed to the wonderful location of Calcot Manor with a day booked where you will discover what it means to connect with your heart, find your people and gain confidence.
Aside from an action packed day you will get also get a copy of The Crisis Catalyst by Darrell Irwin and Master Networking by Tracey Smolinski.