Avoid These Common Website Mistakes.

With many of our customers home more than usual over the last 5 months, website traffic has increased substantially for a lot of our members. Instead of stopping by showrooms to peruse, customers are using our websites for that initial browsing. Is your website up to the task? Here are some common website mistakes to avoid.

Location, Location, Location

All search is local. In both the real and online world, consumers visit the central places that provide goods and services that they need, and they make these decisions to minimize travel distance. That includes selecting a showroom to purchase products for their new baths and kitchens, which is why it is extremely important to include your physical location on your website on every page. Where you are located is part of your brand because people search by location. Your customers and builder clients are no different than you. There is a maximum distance that a prospective customer in your service territory will travel to visit a showroom.

Speed Wins

Website visitors don’t have the patience to wait for pages to load. You can check your website’s speed on Google’s PageSpeed platform. You want a score from 90-100. If your speed is 50 or lower, speak to your webmaster or another expert to determine what needs to be done to load pages more quickly.

Less Is Better

What do you want your website to do? For many, it is to provide reasons for potential customers to call or visit your showroom. As 2020 Conference Workshop Leader Robb Best teaches, less is better because when you give prospects too many choices their brains shut down. Customers will walk away because their brains do not have the capacity to process multiple inputs. That’s why you should offer prospects a choice of A or B instead of A-F. The same thinking should apply to your website. Carefully curate images to provide a representation of the breadth of projects that your showroom has been involved with. Showcase images that put your work and showroom in their best light.

Showcase the Best

Avoid the temptation to showcase your latest projects. Instead, post examples of your best work. Website visitors don’t care if your best work was a project three years ago. Showcase the services and features that reflect your showroom’s brand and serve to differentiate your skill sets from competitors.