Give your small business a major presence on the Internet – by using your website to compete with (and outperform) established brands.
The next time you visit Silicon Valley (or one of the most dynamic tech cities in the United States) and are standing in line at Peet’s Coffee to place your order, ask the person behind you what they think about net neutrality. I’ll cover the cost of your coffee if their answer is anything but 100% pure.
The reason the topic of net neutrality draws fiery responses from the tech community is the same reason any business, whatever its size, revenue or type, can use its website as a powerful marketing tool: the Internet (and much of the open source that powers it) was created as a global public resource that is open and accessible to all, making it the great equalizer. Whether you consider your company part of Wall Street or your neighborhood’s main street, all websites are ranked in search engines by a nonpartisan algorithm.
At this point in the conversation, it is important to point out that I am referring to the “organic” or “natural” search engine results – not online advertising. When I wrote “nonpartisan” in the previous paragraph, many of you probably raised your eyebrows because Google, the largest search engine in the United States, is the tech giant it is today because of AdWords.
While Google’s AdWords algorithm is built on an auction principle and is therefore designed to favor certain advertiser characteristics, the Google search engine algorithm works with different parameters. There are certainly advantages to using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) as part of a website marketing strategy, but the fact remains that it is a form of online advertising and it can be prohibitive for younger or smaller businesses.
Understanding a few basic characteristics of Google’s organic search algorithm, combined with web design best practices, will put your small business on the same field as your counterparts at larger companies and create a level playing field (just as those in favor of net neutrality believe it should be).
Website strategies you can use to compete with your big-business counterparts
Follow SEO and website design best practices
When it comes to your small business’s website design, the first question is always around the budget and “how much will it cost?” As a marketer who has led (and taken part in) website design and development projects for large and small businesses, I can tell you that you can spend $250 on a DIY service or $250,000 on a professional web design agency to do the heavy lifting for you.
One caveat I want to make relates to the $250,000 website design and development price tag. Many businesses wrongly equate a big price with a shiny brand-new website that incorporates digital and SEO best practices. After all, ranking on the first page of Google with a beautiful, elegant website is certainly worth $250,000… right? Yes and no.
While you may be an honest businessperson, there are dishonest online marketing agencies that are more than willing to take your money by overcomplicating a simple website request (and charging you for it). I sit near the sales department at Publi Web Media and I hear daily phone conversations about the (often unnecessary) features and high prices that another digital agency quotes for a simple website design and development project.
For example, I would struggle to think of a situation where a mid-sized law firm (a few locations, about 100 employees, with a small marketing team that would take care of maintaining the website after launch) would need a content management platform behind their website that costs $250,000. Yet that was a conversation I overheard last Friday.
To weed out the bad apples, here are some strategies you can use when it comes to choosing a web development company:
- Online reviews are no longer just for Yelp restaurants; check the agency’s Google reviews. If they have none, ask them for a few client references that are similar to your small business. Any digital web agency worth your time and money will be more than happy to provide this information.
- Ask for project quotes from several different marketing agencies. If one stands clearly apart from the others, ask why and do some additional research. If you are gathering website development quotes, we would be happy to provide you with one. Get in touch with us.
- You would assume that a digital marketing agency that understands SEO best practices would have a website that ranks for its own keywords. While not appearing at position #1 on Google for “best web development company” should not be a deal-breaker, a search for the agency’s name that doesn’t show up until page five should raise a red flag for you.
- As a general rule, websites built using custom (or proprietary) content management systems benefit only one party: the agency that owns or created the code*. As a proponent of the bus theory, I strongly believe that more than one person should understand and be able to make changes / updates to your website. While that person might not be you (or even work at your small business), the website code and the content management system that a web agency builds for you should be easily manageable by a different web agency (or developer). Websites using WordPress or Magento themes are universal standards and any coder can step in and help, if your agency gets hit by a bus (knock on wood!).
(*) If you choose the DIY route for your website, expect to use a content management system owned by your host – and that’s normal. DIY site providers (like GoDaddy or Squarespace) build their backend framework so they can serve a large volume of customers at lower prices.
If you are a small business that falls into the DIY category, you’re in luck: there is no shortage of technology that enables quality web design that is beautiful, intuitive and user-friendly, available at very reasonable prices. Many of these DIY web design services are extremely innovative when it comes to cutting-edge web development and design.
Small businesses are structured to build relationships with today’s customer
A new Harvard Business Review eBook, Designing a Marketing Organization for the Digital Age, explains how corporate organizations must structure the different business units of a marketing department (product, advertising, partnerships, events, customer service, etc.) to adapt to a customer experience that is unpredictable and no longer linear. One of the Chief Marketing Officers interviewed recommended that companies restructure so that they are more agile and can act quickly; this will help them capitalize on customer opportunities as they arise.
That sounds a lot like the structure of a small business, doesn’t it?
In addition, multinational companies are slowed down by their size and hierarchical structure. Your small business can react very quickly to market changes because you are not slowed down by structure and processes; the executive makes a decision and it is carried out, often within hours. Large companies often require multiple meetings, investments and the signing of legal contracts… which take time. By the time a large company is able to react to a market opportunity, it has come and already gone.
When you own a small business, it is easy to look at the relationship dominant brands have with their customers and assume they are playing a completely different game than you. They have widespread name recognition, cultivate powerful feelings of attachment with their customers, and have major public relations machines that keep their names in the headlines for better or worse. While it is true that there are many advantages that come with a high level of recognition, it is important to remember that it was not always this way for them, and that at one point, every customer discovered them for the first time.
Babies don’t come out of the womb knowing that Apple designs attractive tech products. It is only when consumers begin to absorb advertising that a relationship develops, even with the world’s most famous brands. Small businesses, of course, have this moment with their customers too. Nowadays, it will most likely happen digitally, which is why the way your brand is presented to the customer through your website is so crucial. When a person’s first experience with your business is defined by the design and the information offered on your site, you have the opportunity to connect with them in the same way Fortune 500 companies do.
Build a web strategy using evergreen design principles
There is a subtle distinction between staying relevant and being trendy: staying relevant means you are plugged into the world around you and understand what your customers are looking for in an experience. Being trendy means chasing behaviors in an attempt to attract attention.
Too often, small business owners fall victim to chasing web design and development trends, hoping they will stand out in a crowded market and catch customers at the right time. Unfortunately, this strategy often fails because potential customers don’t understand how to navigate the website and simply give up (and visit your competitor who has a website with a good user experience).
Evergreen design, on the other hand, is based on timeless aesthetics and logical navigation that will keep your customers on your site for longer periods of time. When you build your brand around a design scheme that can stand the test of time, you will likely only need minor modifications and content updates in the years to come to keep your brand’s digital image attractive and relevant.
Si vous ne savez pas si une fonctionnalité de conception de site Web est à la mode ou ici pour rester, vous pouvez toujours envoyer votre question à [email protected] and we will answer you.
An exceptional user experience creates loyal customers
Increasingly, along with core components such as product use and customer service, your site’s user experience plays a significant role in shaping the customer’s overall relationship with your business. It may be where most of their interaction with your brand is confined, making it more important than ever that you offer an exceptional experience they will want to come back to again and again.
After all, it’s no secret that regular customers are willing to pay a premium for products / services. And recent research shows that customers are actually willing to pay nearly 15% more for a product on a website that has a really good user experience.
Build your small business’s authority (with customers and search engines) through content marketing
Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves creating and sharing online material such as videos, blog posts and social media posts that do not explicitly promote a brand, but are intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.
Customers and search engines love content marketing because it helps them understand your small business’s authority in the market.
Building credibility without the national or global recognition of a name is a challenge for small businesses hoping to compete with established companies for market share. Fortunately, your website can do a lot of groundwork for you in this regard, provided you incorporate content that gives the reader valuable information.
When you know which of your customers’ pain points your product is suited to, you can create content that explains how your offering can meet their needs. Testimonials and customer reviews give your prospects the chance to hear from other people who were once in a situation similar to theirs. They also put your selling points in the mouths of real users, and they work to back up your own claims about your products.
In terms of using content marketing to build authority with search engines, I will refer back to my neutrality point cited earlier: search engine algorithms can only rank the factors that a website provides to them. You and your larger-company counterpart are on the same playing field when it comes to marketing your website and ranking in search engines.
Myth: search engines discriminate against small brands
Google’s search engine algorithm doesn’t care that Walmart is a nearly $500 billion company when it publishes results. Nor does it take into account that Microsoft has the highest market tier of all existing companies. It doesn’t need to. What it knows is that these companies have well-designed websites with dozens of internal and external links, high-quality content and an established base of visitors.
By designing an effective digital marketing strategy for the consistent production of value-added content, creating a system of relevant internal links, including specific long-tail keywords in your website – and using other SEO best practices – you can compete in the same field as the mega-company.
The principles of strong SEO are the same whether you sell $10 billion or $10,000 of product a year, and increasing your traffic through organic search can open many doors for your organization.
Your website = Another customer touchpoint
Just like your printed marketing materials, sales collateral and customer service processes, your website exists first and foremost to provide value to your customers. In this respect, you are no different from the multinationals that buy advertising time during the Super Bowl. As long as your website’s design is based on this principle, people will find it and will want to use it.
It doesn’t take a six-figure budget to create a website that makes smart use of content integration and SEO, has an aesthetically pleasing design, and offers a fantastic user experience. These are the strategies established brands use to build online customer loyalty, and they are available to any business that looks for them.
