Your online presence is important and getting more important every day. Hard to believe but some firms don’t have a website—it’s not recommended to be in that group.

In this digital age you need to be visible online or the new business will go to your competitors and you will never even know that you lost a potential new customer.

Even if the prospect heard about you, they will go to the Internet (think reviews) and most definitely to your website to “check you out”. While you may not get a client enrolling online for your services, you need to pass the first “trust test” before you even get a call or e-mail inquiring about your services or products.

By making information about your company and services available online, potential clients can more easily and quickly reach out to you. All it takes is a few clicks or taps on their computers, smartphones, or tablets. Even seniors are computer literate.

It’s All About Getting Better Results

Whether you have decided to build your first website or plan to upgrade an existing one, getting it right from the start will get better results.

Objectives:

1. Provide content (blog posts, web pages, photos, and maybe even videos) that will engage and interest your target audience, encouraging them to contact you or at a minimum sign up for an e-mail subscription.
2. Create a website that will rank high in search engines—Google, Yahoo, and Bing—so prospects can find your business using generic keywords such as dentist in (your city).

Here are some key steps to ensure your firm has a great site, i.e. one that converts and gets you new clients on a regular basis. Other than Step A, these are best done by a digital marketing agency.

A. Do Your Homework

You need to do some homework in planning a new website or upgrading an old one.

Start with a Google search for your competitors. For example, if you have a veterinary practice in Burbank, CA, then do a search for “Veterinarian Burbank”. Review the top 3 websites—they are your top competition.

You are going to have to bump one of them down the search rankings for your firm to take a spot in the top 3, which is ideal.

• Does their site look modern? A modern site will give potential clients a sense of your brand.
• It is clear what services they offer?
• It is clear what their specialties are?
• Do they have an about page with pics of the leaders and key staff? Are there quality pictures?
• Are there any testimonials?
• Did they take the time to write a blog to keep visitors interested?

Now determine what your site will be all about. You want to answer the following questions in your research about your site:

• Who is your target audience?
• What services do you offer?
• What differentiates your firm from other businesses like yours?
• What is your objective in having a website? Get leads, branding?
• What social media accounts do you maintain?
• What is the status of your online reputation? Do you have negative reviews or comments that show up when prospects check you out?

B. Develop a Site Map

A site map presents an overview of the website, including all the pages in the website. It is the instructions that go to a programmer to develop your site.

It forms the basis of how your navigation is organized.

A site maps lists out all the pages you want on the site, something like this—say you are an accounting firm:

• Home
• Services
  • Accounting
  • Tax Return Preparation
  • Bookkeeping
  • Audit
  • Financial Advisors
• About
• Testimonials
• Contact
• Blog, a.k.a. articles

C. Get Keyword Research Done

Keywords are a crucial part of building a new website so that you get good SEO (search engine optimization) results. In order to rank on page 1 of Google and other search engines, you need to determine which keywords are used when prospects are looking for your products or services.

Key factors to consider in keyword research:

• Search volume – How many people are using this keyword to search for accounting companies or other selected keywords?
• Commercial intent – Does the keyword have a commercial intent? For instance, it’s smarter to use the keyword “accounting services” than “accounting” because some people might only be using the latter keyword to look for an answer to an accounting question, not to hire the services of an accountant.
• Competition – How many other websites are also using that keyword?

The ideal keyword would be one that has commercial intent, a high search volume, and low competition.

D. Write or Edit Web Pages Using the Keyword Research

Include keywords in the following parts of your content:

• Headline
• Sub-headlines
• Body text
• Website code
• Pictures

Don’t forget to use synonyms in addition to the major keyword. Also, don’t stuff keywords into your content; otherwise, your site could be penalized by Google—i.e. they will ignore you.

Each web page needs one major keyword and a number of synonyms. Write for you end user, not for Google.

E. Upload the Content and Launch Your New Website

Upload content onto the pages of your website, including text, pictures, videos, charts, and other elements that you want to include. Add links to help people navigate through the site more easily. For instance, you can add links to a page of your website that’s relevant to a blog post, and vice versa.

Review all pages, making sure that images display well, links are working, and there are no typos. There should also be adequate white space for readability.

Developing a website for your business may seem overwhelming. Do the parts you can and hire a professional to do the rest.