Set Your Website Up for Local Success
When you are planning content for your website or posts for your blog, you might be tempted to just throw something out there and hope that it reaches people. This could work, but it will likely be a waste of your time. Instead, you need to spend time thinking about what people in your area will want to know.
Geographical content is something that is often hard to create. This doesn’t mean that it is impossible to do this, you just have to know what people in your area are looking for. Before you go throwing some random facts about your area to entice local people, think about these points.
You need a space for NAP
At the top of your Contact Us page, you need to publish your company’s information. This includes the company’s Name, Address, and Phone number. This makes it easy for customers to find out how to get in touch with you or to find out where you are located. The NAP must be crawlable by the search engines so that Google and the others can pick it up for searches.
Give customers all the information they need
On top of the NAP information, your customers want to be able to find out as much as they can about your company from a visit to your website. You should include a map of your location, a picture of the exterior of your building, your hours of operation, what types of payments you accept, a list of your services, and links to your social media profiles. All of this information should ideally be listed on an About Us page or a Contact Us page.
Keep your homepage moving
Don’t think that you can only create the homepage of your business once and forget about it. Your homepage is the gateway to your business. It needs to be updated and enhanced on a regular basis. Potential clients want to know that your business is moving forward, not just staying stagnant. You can show this by keeping the content on your homepage fresh and current.
Let customers know you care
Your company’s website needs a clear copy of your customers’ bill of rights and the policies that customers need to know about. Make sure that all of your employees who will interact with customers that are coming from your website know this information and have a full copy of what it says, as well as explanations of what it all means.
Share customer experiences
A testimonials page can be a real help for your company; however, those testimonials can’t be fabricated. Think about it this way – you have some local people who send in testimonials. You publish them on your website. Now, other locals who know those people can look at that recommendation. You have likely earned yourself some new clients from the local area. On the flip side, if you publish testimonials that are fabricated, people won’t recognize any of the “customers” from the area who you claim to like your service. This might turn those potential customers away. If you allow customers to write reviews or testimonials directly on your website, make sure you have a clearly stated policy for those reviews.
Pull it all together
In order to keep your website appealing to local customers, you have to make sure that you are touching on things they want to know. If your company sells BBQ and have catering, let the customers know that your workers will provide friendly service while remaining professional. If you have an advertising business, you need to let your clients know what sets you apart from other agencies. Don’t just tell your readers what is different about you, show them.
Keep your focus in mind
There are many different focuses to having a website for your company. One of these is exposure so that you can let people know your company exists and what you do. You should clearly explain this and let people know why you are qualified to handle their needs in your chosen area, as well as why your company is the best one for their needs.
Another purpose is education. Around 82 percent of people who own a smartphone will check out a purchase online while they are standing in the store trying to decide if they are going to buy an item or not. This doesn’t leave much room for a bare website. Instead, provide them with the rich content they need to make their decision.
Another purpose is to invoke action. You want the visitors to your website to contact you, make a purchase, request more information, or to stop by. These are the conversions that will keep your business in business.