Taking Root

If your company is ready to plan your next website redesign, this is a great time to consider what features and functions will help you get better Search Engine Result Page (SERP) rankings, traffic, engagement, and conversion rates. Achieving page-one SERP rankings for the most likely search terms pertinent to your business and products carries many advantages, but the most important is that if your page is not on page one of the SERPs for relevant search terms, it has less than a five percent chance of ever being seen by search engine users at all.

Website development has come a long way since the days when businesses could just whip up a cool-looking digital brochure, and leave the rest to their Sales team. In the current online market, an effective business website is a critical tool to help Sales close leads by leading prospects through the sales funnel stages, from awareness of your brand, to interest, toward a buying decision and taking action. In a sense, a well-designed website functions as a member of your sales team, by tag-teaming with your salespeople.

When Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security came into use, it was primarily for banks and other companies that conducted financial transactions online. More recently, though, SSL has become a ranking signal for Google, which means that businesses without an SSL certificate for their websites suffer in Google Search Engine Result Page (SERP) rankings.

When it's time to re-design your company's website, or build your first site, you've got plenty of questions of your own. How much does it cost to design a website? Should I build my own site or hire a web designer? Start with the understanding that in today's marketing world, a website is much more than an online brochure; it's a highly specialized tool.

Ten years ago, businesses could put together a nice-looking website that basically acted as a digital brochure, and feel confident that they had built a web presence. On today's information superhighway, that type of website design is destined to become roadkill.

 When you begin designing your website you will want it to look great, stand out and work well. But what does that mean? How do you determine if a website looks great and has the desired functionality?

Today’s buyer is looking for solutions online. They want to visit and spend time on websites that educate, and help them to make better purchasing decisions. And—they typically begin this process before engaging your sales force.  So how do you ensure that buyers find your business during this process?