Digital Marketing Series: Websites
- Sebrinia Welch
- Sep 25, 2023
- 5 min read
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Remember a time when you showed up somewhere and it made a negative impression on you immediately? What did you do next?
It’s quite possible that you ending up leaving and going somewhere else. Or maybe you stayed and found that it took some time to shake off the initial feeling…
First impressions are so important for small businesses and nonprofits - we sometimes only have one shot to establish trust and credibility with our target audience. This is why it is vital that we think about the customer journey and the experiences we create for them. If we can form a positive first impression, we can set ourselves apart, foster immediate trust and build long-term relationships, which can drive growth and create opportunities for our organizations.
One of the most effective ways to set up a solid first impression is to have a strong, professional website. Consider this: the average US internet user visits over 130 webpages a day1 and it only take less than a second (50 milliseconds, in fact!) for users to form an initial opinion about a website.2 With our limited funding or resources to put ourselves out there, a website provides the opportunity to get in front of potential customers or supporters, so we need to make a positive impression right from the start.
Your Digital Storefront
Most digital marketing efforts that you implement will need to direct your target audience to a location where they can continue their journey and a website is a great place to funnel your leads. I think a lot of small businesses and nonprofits rely heavily on social media platforms as the sole place to share information and updates, but with constant changes to algorithms and functions, it can be hard, time-consuming and costly to only focus your efforts on those platforms.
A website is like a digital storefront or office where visitors can learn more about who you are, what you offer and how they can engage with you. It is a consistent location that offers more control over what information you put out there about your organization. Also, while not everyone has a social media profile, anyone with internet and a device can access your website.
Here are 5 key benefits for having a website:
1. Visibility:
With a website, you can work towards appearing in online searches for the products or services you offer.
Also, social media, emails and flyers can only hold so much information, while a website can house multiple pages that exist all at the same time.
2. Credibility & Professionalism:
Most people hold off on giving their personal information, like their email, until they feel more comfortable.
A strong, professional website can offer multiple ways to show professionalism and trust to your target audience, giving your small business or nonprofit more credibility and legitimacy.
3. Accessibility:
Unlike physical storefronts or offices, websites are accessible 24/7. This allows potential customers or donors to learn about you at their convenience.
4. Reach:
A website provides the opportunity for global reach. Even if your service is location-specific, you never know where you might find a supporter or someone interested in your business.
5. Cost Savings:
Websites offer an economical way to promote products, services, or causes.
Digital catalogs, online customer service, and other features can lead to significant savings compared to providing these physically.
What is the anatomy of a strong, professional website?
A strong, professional website is more than just having certain pages, like a home, about, or contact page. It about how you build and design your website to support the journey your target audience is on in discovering and learning more about your organization.
Once a potential customer or supporter visits your website, you have to think not only about making a positive impression, but also helping them navigate to and through the information posted, getting them to hopefully purchase or donate.
As you process the customer journey, here are some 8 key elements of a professional website that you should consider:
1. Create a Clean, Intuitive Design: The layout of your website’s design should be visually appealing, using consistent colors, fonts, and graphics that align with your small business or nonprofit’s identity. Your pages should also be uncluttered, making it easy for visitors to focus on the content.
2. Use of Strong Headers: This includes a logo (make sure it is easily seen, typically in the top left) and a navigation menu that highlight the different pages, making it easy for visitors to find their way around your site.
3. Design a Hero Section: This is often the first thing visitors see. It should have:
A compelling headline.
A subheadline or brief description.
A call-to-action (CTA) like "Learn More" or "Shop Now".
High-quality, relevant photos or video.
4. Ensure Responsive Design: With over 58% of website traffic coming from mobile devices,3 your website should adapt and load easily to various screen sizes, from desktops to tablets to smartphones.
5. Publish Engaging Content: Remember, building credibility and professionalism is important to 1.) stand out amongst competitors and 2.) build trust with your target audience. The best way to do this is to provide value with the content you add to your different web pages, making it easy for your visitors to connect with your organization and what you could offer them.
About Us: Highlights your small business’s or nonprofit’s history, values, and team. Provide them a glimpse into the humans “behind the curtain.”
Services/Products: By showcasing your products, services, programs, clients you serve, etc. with detailed descriptions, benefits, and pricing (if applicable), you are providing multiple opportunities for visitors to learn more about what value you offer.
6. Establish Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs): On the customer journey, we hope to help our target audience to make a decision to invest in our small business or nonprofit through donations, purchases, or volunteer hours. Our website needs to help guide our visitors towards these desired actions and a clear CTA will help give the visual cue to lead them to it.
7. Trust Indicators: Trust is a powerful emotion - if you do not have the trust of your target audience, you more than likely will lose their interest and business. On the other hand, if you are able to gain their trust, your website provides a great opportunity to continue fostering it in a variety of ways:
Testimonials and Review: Provide authentic and real feedback from clients or customers.
Certifications or Awards: Add images of logos or badges that show recognitions and connections to professional organizations.
Trust Badges: This is especially important for e-commerce sites! Examples of this are a SSL certificate, money-back guarantees, and solid return/exchange policies.
8. Post Contact Information: Your visitors may not be quite ready to make a purchase or donation: perhaps they have a question they need answering or they need more time before making their decision but want to continue engaging.
Again, leaning into the themes of building trust and credibility, it is important to continue being there for your visitors, meeting them where they are at in that moment and being available at the time they want to reach out and connect. A couple great ways to do this on your website are on the:
Contact Page: Provide an opportunity for them to reach out to you directly; you can add a contact form, email address, phone number, or physical address.
Footer: This is at the bottom of every webpage and often contains contact info, navigation links, and social media icons.
As you build or update your website, remember that every page type serves a unique purpose and offers different benefits that can increase your online presence. Our upcoming Website Series will give you detailed tips on how to make every page stronger, especially with connecting to your audience throughout their journey. For small businesses and nonprofits, a good website isn't just a nice thing to have; it's a digital marketing essential in today's online world.
1 Source: Kickstand
2 Source: Taylor and Francis Online
3 Source: Statista
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