Small business owners will spend between $2,000 and $10,000 to build a new website.
Many business owners understand it takes a little time to pick up traffic, but what if you don’t see any improvement?
You’re getting no new leads, no phone calls, nothing is in your inbox, and you’re starting to get worried.
You’ve just spent a lot of time and money to get your new website up and running.
What now?
Don’t panic! Take a step back and reevaluate your website to see if you’re making one of the 3 common mistakes business owners make when launching their website.
Is your website not conveying the right message? Let’s talk!
Top 3 Most Common Digital Marketing Mistakes Business Owners Make Before A Website Launch
It’s easy to get caught up in the design of your website and pay less attention to its content. But your website’s content is much more than simply talking about your company and its services or products.
Yes, you want to ensure that your website is free of spelling and grammatical errors. However, if you’re doing any of the following things, they could be turning potential customers away.
Mistake #1: There’s More Focus On The Design Than The Words
As mentioned above, a website’s design can easily take center stage as you’re moving through your website’s development. And you’re not completely wrong to focus on it! But according to research by the Nielsen Norman Group, most internet users only skim or scan a webpage – which means you have a limited amount of time and text to get your message across with clarity.
Headlines, subheadings, bullet points, and call-to-action buttons (CTAs) are what your audience is looking for when browsing your site. They may notice a cool feature or two, but they won’t be nearly as interested in your website’s design as you are. If your website doesn’t understand what you do and how you can help them immediately, then they’re much more likely to move on to another website.
Be sure you use powerful copy to explain how you better serve your potential customers. Try not to be too wordy and make your process easy to follow. For example, when explaining how you like to do business together, break it down into 3 steps like:
1. Get In Touch!
Give us a call at 123.456.7890 to schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation.
2. Evaluate Your Needs
We’ll discuss which services are right for you, your desired timeline, and pricing.
3. Let’s Shake On It
As soon as we receive your deposit, we’ll get started right away!
There’s no need to give up all of your strategies right away. Let your audience reach out to you with a few simple steps.
Do you have a killer design with uncoordinated copy? FocusCopy fixes misaligned content.
Mistake #2: Business Owners Forget Who The Website Is For
Take a look at your website. Is there a ton of “we” language? This type of language typically includes words and phrases that keep the message company-focused rather than customer-focused.
Some company-focused copy is okay. But don’t go overboard.
Your website isn’t really about you, remember?
You already know who you are! Your website’s job is to explain your company to others and how you make their lives easier or better.
If users can’t make a connection to your message or quickly find information on your product or service benefits, then they’ll move on. It’s nice to feature your years of experience, certifications, volunteer experience, and so on. But keep in mind that the only information they truly need is what you’re offering and how it helps them.
A few items you should consider adding to your copy:
- Customer pain points
- Customer benefits
- Special offerings
- Limited-time deals or pricing
- Engaging CTAs
- Contact information
- FAQs
All of these are a great way to convey the value your company has while offering easy-to-find contact information for when they’re ready to move forward.
Make that offering loud and clear, and cut out anything that simply fills the space.
Mistake #3: There’s No Celebration Of The Launch
Did you perform a soft launch without letting your customers know about your new website?
Yikes!
You’ve invested time and money in your new website.
Shouldn’t the people you care about see it?
One of the best ways to launch your new website is to create an email campaign to build up the excitement for its launch. At the very least, your new website will be on the minds of your customers if they’ve skimmed through an announcement email or two.
Don’t forget to throw some confetti for yourself, too. You’ve done an amazing job advancing your business’s growth with fresh digital marketing. It’s no small feat, and you should give yourself and your team a huge pat on the back. You can:
- Host a countdown pizza party
- Make t-shirts
- Congratulate your team for all of their hard work
- Share your excitement on social media
Doing any or all of these will let your customers know that enhancing their experience is important to you – no one can argue with that!
Want To Launch Your Website This Year?
You have an amazing design already, but you aren’t completely sure your copy is where you want it to be.
Don’t slow your momentum now. You’re onto something incredible. We can feel it! It’s time to put that plan in motion with a website that will convert your audience into paying customers.
Our content remains customer-focused because we continue to ask one of our favorite questions of all time…Who cares? If there isn’t a clear answer to our writing, it’s time to rework what’s written.
We’ll use ourselves as an example…
Why Does FocusCopy exist? ⟶ To write for small and medium-sized businesses
Why does it matter? ⟶ Because business owners hate writing, don’t have time to write, and/or don’t know how to write for their business
So what? ⟶ We are an affordable and efficient solution when you need a professional copywriter for your business
Does the idea of writing your own website copy leave you feeling…a little queasy?
