1. Avoid overused off-the-shelf website templates.
There are a handful of website templates that are omnipresent these days. These templates aren’t inherently bad, it’s a fault of short-sighted website designers and developers. Many of these “providers” are more attuned to giving you what they have vs. what your business needs. So, we are left with the proliferation of off-the-shelf Squarespace, Wix, and GoDaddy templates that all look exactly alike, regardless of the business they represent. How can anyone tell your business apart from your competition, or any of the other sites that some web designers crank out?
Choose a website design that sets your business apart and reflects your company. Avoid choosing a website layout from a novice designer’s shallow bag of tricks. This is about your business not theirs.
Quick tips:
- If your brand identity doesn’t include green and brassy gold, don’t flood your website with those past-trendy colors.
- Opt out of using trendy illegible typefaces.
- Don’t copy your photography style from everyone else. Be different, people want to see you. Leave the disco balls on the dance floor.
2. Don’t post the same content on social media as everyone else.
Scroll, scroll, scroll. Trend, trend, trend. “It’s giving”…. OK STOP.
Save the TikTok dances and popular memes for your personal account. Give your customers relevant information that reflects your business instead. Short lived trends don’t do anything to sell services like dentistry or auto repair. It doesn’t convey heath, safety, or even customer service. Instead, post relevant and engaging content that reinforces your message, services, and brand. You can still have fun, just post content that is pertinent to your business.
Quick tips:
- Post content that tells people about your business. No lip-syncing unless you run a cabaret or drag show. In which case, DM us, we’ll support you 100%!
- Talking to the camera is great! Just leave the gimmicks and hand-held fuzzy microphones alone.
- Be yourself. Let your company find its voice. Your audience is dying for a reason to stop scrolling.
3. Don’t invest in SEO without a plan.
We all ask Google and Chat GPT more than we should as it is, and good SEO and AEO can help you stand out in those results. So what happens next? What does the customer see after the Google click? Is your landing page consistent with your brand and services? Is there a clear call to action or is there a disconnect?
Your SEO gurus get paid for traffic stats and clicks, but typically not conversion. Imagine driving through the desert and seeing large billboards promising delicious cold refreshment. Mile after mile, sign after sign, you can taste it… a giant ice-filled glass of water. Then you arrive, only to find a rusty water pump. Sure the signs got you there, but did you drink? This isn’t about bad SEO practices, on the contrary, it’s about where SEO leads your visitor. Make sure your website or landing page is ready to engage and connect with your audience.
Quick tips:
- Look at SEO as a part of your wholistic marketing approach. SEO is not a silver bullet. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there selling it as such.
- Lead people to a simple landing page or microsite that represents you at your best. Reward your visitors for their journey with a great destination.
- Don’t chase esoteric targets based upon SEO stats as the end goal. The goals of any campaign should be conversion, connection, appointments, and/or sales.
In general, stay true to your brand, be yourself in your marketing, and have a strategy for how your audience experiences your company. We understand that any one of those things, let alone all three, can be daunting. We’re here to help if you need it. Comment below or contact us directly to start a conversation.
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