Has your website kept up with your profit-generating priorities?

By CAROLYN GREEN

As your business grows, your marketing needs to evolve with it. But you know what happened to me? I built up years of experience, brought in new team members and refined what we do best. Then one day I actually looked at my own website and found it reflected how we started, not what we had become.

Signs your website hasn’t kept up

Misalignment is more common than you’d think. Some red flags:

• Project images or headlines showcase early, less skilled work.
• Services the company no longer offers—or no longer wants– are still listed
• The homepage speaks to “everyone,” not to the specific clients that bring in revenue.
• SEO keywords were chosen years ago and are bringing in the wrong type of calls.

Even if you haven’t changed your offerings, you have probably clarified the types of customers you want and more importantly kinds of work you don’t want.

Don’t waste valuable marketing space on services that no longer generate revenue—or align with your business goals. Showcase your capabilities in simple updated terms.

A strategic site—one that brings in the kind of clients you want now—does a few things well:

• It names the people you serve best
• It offers them a simple, low-cost point of entry
• It highlights the services that bring in the best ROI
• It is optimized for the search terms your current clients actually use

This last piece is critical. If your SEO strategy was written with old offerings in mind, it’s likely attracting the wrong kind of customers.

For example, contractors who build a successful business on small renovations might still rank for “kitchen updates” when custom home building is where they make the majority of their profit. An architectural firm might still show up for public RFP-style projects when they now make much better money with franchise expansions or manufacturing clients.

Small updates can make a big difference in how you’re perceived.

Have you looked at your mid-year budget numbers? If you are clear on where your profits are coming from, refining your website content or SEO might improve your fourth quarter numbers.

The right people are out there. Make sure your website speaks their language.

Here’s a PDF with a few more specific suggestions.

You’ve got this!

 

Carolyn Green is CEO and senior strategy advisor for CGA, headquartered in Edwardsville, Ill., located in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. She shares ways to increase revenue with weekly marketing tips at www.cgreenassociates.com/mm/.

C. Green & Associates Inc. has started a “Skool” community called the Plan as You Grow revenue accelerator. You can check it out at https://www.skool.com/planasyou-grow-7756/about?ref=a02163ad5ca94c0687066a1e09eff7e3.