Nicky Jurd owns a website development company in Cairns called Precedence, who specialise in building websites for small businesses, and she feels many small business owners are leaving the financial future of their businesses in the hands of social media channels, which they do not own or control. A great social media profile is important, but it will not replace a well-designed website that you own outright.
Only building your business on social media platforms is like handing over the keys and control to someone else...it's risky.
Web Developer or Free Site
Nicky openly admits there are many free sites where you can build and design your own website, however, to do it right you need to commit time and also some creativity, otherwise it will look poorly designed and poorly designed websites lack credibility.
Trust Triggers
A poorly designed website does not build trust and people only buy from businesses they trust. Things to avoid include:
- Using too many fonts
- Using the wrong font for the message
- Wrong colours
- Auto-playing sound with video
- Too much movement or adding things that distract
- Poorly timed pop-ups
When you look at a website and something doesn't quite feel right, that's your trust trigger going off.
But My Friend Builds Websites
Often someone will say they have a friend or family member that can build their website, therefore they do not need a web developer, which may be correct, but do they:
- Understand business?
- Understand the flow of customer questions?
- Know what makes a customer buy?
- Know your target market?
It's important to understand that your website is where your future customers head before contacting you.
Silent Achiever
Your website is a silent achiever and it is constantly working in the background, and it never puts it's hand up and says, "look, I'm getting old". A five-year-old website, for example, will no longer look very good on a mobile phone and a lot of people use their mobile device for searching businesses.
New Person - where do they start?
- Brand: You need to work out what your brand is going to be and it's a good idea to engage a Graphic Designer to help with creating a logo and brand suite (colours & fonts)
- Good Photos: Using your own photos is better than using 'stock photos' and you need a good headshot of people in the business. Get a good camera or use a photographer.
- Text: What is your website going to say. Remember it's a silent salesperson. If you can't write, get help from a copywriter. They may also help you with other written materials in your business (brochures etc)
I Have A Website, But It's Old
If you have an existing website that's old you need to look under the hood. You need to get your stat's (Google Analytics). You need to know where your traffic is coming from and which pages are the most popular as you do not want to lose these pages during an upgrade.
If you're not happy with your web developer it's very easy to make a change, and you should if you're not being looked after.
Websites should be tinkered with every 12-months and a complete re-design every three years. It's important to update and do re-designs because as technology changes your website needs to change as well.
I Have A Modern Website
If you have a new website that is modern and up to date you need to remember that Google loves text, so make sure you are adding new information on your website via Blogs, FAQ's, etc on a regular basis. Weekly is a good time frame.
Also, add videos to your website, but make sure they look professional. Videos shot of a shaky phone may be good enough for social media, but they're not good enough for your website if you want to build trust.
Monday Morning Tip
Look at your stats and know how your website is performing, because you need to know how it works if you want to tweak it and make improvements.
If you have any questions about this podcast episode please email me at or you can leave a comment below.
If you want to contact Nicky Jurd and talk more about how her team can help you and your business please visit Precedence, or you can easily find Nicky on most social media channels by searching for her name.
Save The Date
17th and 18th August 2018. I will be holding a 2-Day event in Cairns titled Communication, Persuasion and Influence. My Keynote Speaker is David M Frees from Pennsylvania, who was also my guest on Podcast Episode 2. More details coming shortly, but keep an eye on the EVENTS page.
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