18 Ways to Maximize the Value of Your Website

A good looking website conveys a positive image for your business and provides users with all the information they’re looking for in a way that’s easy for them to discover and explore. That’s the basic, bare-bones function of a website.

But a high-performing website does so much more. It makes a measurable impact on your company’s bottom line.

If your website isn’t doing the following, it’s not providing the ROI that it should for your business.

1. Decreasing call volume.
A good website provides basic information about your business, but a great website decreases unnecessary calls across your organization by providing users with the information they need to complete their goals—and yours—without picking up a phone.

2. Directing the calls that count.
For users who are ready to get in touch, a great website directs them to the right people in the best way, be it email, chat, or online contact forms.

3. Sending shoppers to stores.
Website locators allow users to find the store or dealer nearest them and get directions. Great locators are linked to your databases to provide accurate, up-to-date information without maintenance from your staff.

4. Streamlining your HR processes.
A good website conveys your brand and culture, helping you attract talent. But a high-performing website also cuts paperwork for HR staff by providing easy job posting and removal, accepting applications and forwarding them to appropriate staff. The result is fewer calls and emails and a uniform application process that provides screeners with the information you want in the format that works best for you.

5. Pre-qualifying leads.
A good website provides visitors with a way to contact you. A great website leads users at every point deeper into the sales funnel—and captures the right information along the way to let you identify quality leads and follow up.

6. Expanding your available hours.
Your business may only be open 8 or 12 hours a day, but your website can be taking orders and fielding questions 24/7/365. A website that is designed to guide prospects to the right call to action (CTA) at every step ensures that visitors are always encouraged to move forward with you, even after business hours.

7. Driving and managing ecomm.
A good ecomm website presents all of your offerings and completes transactions without a hitch. But a great ecomm site provides the right product information, intelligent filters and search functions and other user-friendly features to drive sales. It also makes the buying experience as quick and easy as possible, encouraging future visits and repeat sales.

8. Providing happy landings.
A good website is there to greet people who respond to your marketing campaigns. A high-performing website takes them to custom landing pages to close the deal—and captures valuable information along the way.

9. Tracking goals and progress for you.
A great website is aligned with your organization’s goals, provides conversions to match and tracks your progress through tools such as Google Analytics, making it easy for you to see which tactics are working—and which aren’t—and adjust your strategy in response.

10. Building a high-quality mailing list.
A good website lets readers get in touch with you, but a high-performing website unobtrusively captures email addresses and other key information at various stops along the way, letting you build your email list with interested prospects.

11. Asking the right questions.
Customers hate filling out extra forms and fields. Ask too much of them and they may wander away. Ask too little and you risk wasting staff time or getting information you can’t use. A great website captures the right information and sends it where it can do your organization the most good.

12. Providing deeper intelligence.
A good website tells you how much site traffic you receive each day, but a great site is set up to tell you much more, including where visitors are coming from, what they’re reading and which pages are leading to conversions. It can also provide user demographics through tools such as cohort analysis.

13. Following the five-second rule.
A good website reflects your visual brand language and conveys key information about your company. A great website tells visitors instantly who you are, what you do and why you’re different. Your website should convey all of that within 5 seconds of landing on the home page, or your website is failing you.

14. Getting social.
A good website has icons for connecting with social pages. A great one is your social media hub, inviting users back and forth through connected content, dedicated landing pages and more.

15. Going mobile.
A good website is legible on mobile. A high-performing one is built for it. Not only is this crucial for driving sales from today’s mobile shoppers, but now that Google has made the mobile experience a major search ranking factor, it gives your website a major leg up in the SERPs.

16. Managing registrations.
A great website manages everything from reservations to event registration, contest entries and volunteer sign-ups. It can also provide calendars and infographics linked to real-time data, dramatically reducing administrative work.

17. Surveying visitors.
A good website provides a contact form. A great one gives you the opportunity to ask users key questions if you wish and compiles them in actionable reports.

18. Distributing literature.
A great website provides a document center that distributes literature to key personnel and customers. Different levels of access can be granted for employees, dealers, customers and the public, and all of it can be managed easily through a single interface.

Is your website working to build your business? Or is it just hanging around looking good? (or worse, doing neither?) Contact us today to talk about using the full power of digital marketing to power your business.

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