For Websites, Time Is Money

sites 1

sites 1

People today have shorter attention spans than ever. So they aren’t going to spend any more time on your website than necessary to determine if you offer what they want.

Call it the Amazon effect or attribute it to video games or TikTok videos, but when it comes to web design time is money: Specifically, their time is your money. If you don’t give people what they want INSTANTLY, they are going to click off your site and go to a competitor. That’s why today’s web design needs to be faster, clearer, and more user-oriented than ever.

Nobody Cares

Small business owners live and breathe their businesses. They are passionate about what they do. And if they could, they would spend all day talking about their products and services. The problem is that in the virtual world, nobody wants to hear about them.

Instead, people today are so accustomed to clicking on, getting what they want, and clicking off that they don’t have the time or inclination to spend a second more than they have to on your site. So successful small business owners choosing to do business in the virtual world (which is just about everybody these days) need to embrace these new realities.

Simple, Speedy Websites

Effective web design has no time for long, verbose blocks of text. It has no room for passionate stories about the company’s founding or values. Every word, image, headline, or quote needs to serve the specific function of pushing the visitor to do what they came there for in the first place: Buy the products or services you offer.

The online world is fast and getting faster. People won’t tolerate slow, congested websites that take their time getting to the point. Everything today is now, now, now. Smart small business owners understand this and adapt to the times.

Think of Your Website as Your Storefront

credit card on laptop

credit card on laptop

Business owners who have brick and mortar buildings invest a lot of time, money, and effort in making their facade presentable. Customers are going to be more attracted to a storefront that is neatly swept, has clean windows, and has a large, attractive sign.

For people doing business online, their website is their storefront. So they need to make the same investment into their website as they would put into maintaining the physical facade of their business if it were an actual building.

Design and Upkeep

Besides location, the presentation of a retail operation is among the top priorities for any business owner. Nobody wants to walk into a store that is dirty, run-down, or uninviting. That’s why the owners of physical businesses invest so much money in their physical plant — from the upfront costs of design and construction to the ongoing line item of upkeep and maintenance.

The same holds true for owners of virtual businesses. Commissioning an attractive website that is both informative and instinctive to use is critical to attracting new visitors. But continually updating and maintaining that same website so that it doesn’t crash and is fast and easy for users is equally important.

Lytron Web Design

At Lytron Web Design, we can handle both responsibilities for you. We will collaborate with you to create a compelling website that will convert first-time visitors into long-term customers. Then we will maintain, upgrade, and continually improve your website so that it keeps serving your business and building your bottom line.

In the same way the owner of a business in the real world has to deal with many different aspects of running their business, your virtual business puts a lot of demands on your time and attention. When Lytron Web Design is on the job building, maintaining, and improving your website, thats’ one more thing you can take off your plate.

Think Globally, Act Locally

results

results

When planning a marketing campaign, it’s helpful to think globally, but act locally. Why? Because the internet provides contact with practically everybody on the planet but in reality, you are only seeking to connect with people in your immediate area.

Most businesses rely on customers who live within 1 to 3 miles of their physical location. With very few exceptions, most people don’t want to travel further than 5 to 10 minutes from their house to get the products or services they want.

So when it comes to targeting prospective customers in your online marketing, it’s helpful to focus on those closest to your door.

Geo SEO

One of the most effective ways to do this is through “GEO SEO”, which stands for “geographic search engine optimization”. This is when strategically pepper your content with keywords related to your geographic location.

For example, let’s say you own an auto repair business in Silver Springs, Maryland. In the Washington, DC, metropolitan area there are approximately six million people. But those with broken cars in places like Alexandria, Virginia, or Baltimore are highly unlikely to make the trek to your business even if they do find your online website.

What you want is to target people in Silver Springs itself by including the keywords “Silver Springs auto repair” in key places on your web page. This tells the search engines to rank your listing highest for people who go online and type these exact keywords into Google.

Google Ads

This gives you organic search results. But you also can sweeten the pot by paying to get listed first. Google Ads lets you pay to get your business listed first. And that’s key because most internet users typically click on the first two or three results and then stop.

The internet reaches the whole world. But to get the results you want, it’s better to focus on your own backyard.