You know your business. You are a professional with years of experience doing what you do. Whether you are a plumber, or own a clothing store, or sell cool t-shirts online that’s who you are and what you do. You are not a web developer, a social media manager, and SEO specialist.
More goes into a successful website than just putting up some stock images up with a phone number, especially if you’re a small business offering local services. You want potential customers to get all the information they need to choose you in very short period of time.
Did you know that if you search for “plumber” in Atlanta versus Chicago you will see some of the same sponsored links from national companies, but that all the other listings will be different? That’s because Google knows where the user is searching from and will only show geographically relevant listings. If you only service Atlanta you don’t want customers in Chicago, so knowing how to properly tell Google where you are and to reinforce that with content is key.
Do you offer emergency plumbing services? Are there additional charges? How are you licensed? The more questions you can answer for a potential customer the better the odds they will choose you over a competitor that they have to call for the most basic of information. You have to build trust with someone you have not yet met and the best way to do that is with transparency about your business. Make it easy for a client to do business with you and they will.
Getting customers from a Google search onto your website and into your client list is a journey. Enabling that journey takes specialist knowledge and years of experience, just like your profession. Could you build your own site for “free”? Of course. People can fix their own plumbing for “free” too, but you wouldn’t recommend they do that if you are a professional plumber.
Hire a professional who can create a Web experience that is consistent with your brand. Someone who understands how Google listings work, and someone with experience in getting customers to your door. Work with someone who is an expert, and is passionate about what they do, whether that is Digital Epona or someone else. Don’t sell your business short on the Web.