– Improve your business –
by improving your website

by Frida Nyvall

Do you want to increase your sales, get more new clients and strengthen your brand? Time to review your Internet presence.

A professional website has a larger impact on business success than a lot of people might presume. The company website is an important showcase to the world, available not only to random people passing by in the street, but to everyone who has access to the Internet. Even if your goal might not be to reach a global market, the extended reach is of great importance to find or attract new customers, and as a tool in building marketing and in building your brand.

An outdated website will have a negative impact on sales, because:

• Visitors who use smartphones or tablets to view the site have problem finding the information they are looking for, or perform the tasks that they want to. (Older websites are not responsive, meaning that they do not adapt the webpage layout to the visitor’s screen.) If customers have difficulty or are unable to place an order, carry out a purchase or submit a quotation inquiry, you will not only lose customers, you will also lose the possibility of future recurrent purchases as well as reputation. Who will recommend a store or business that does not work?
• A poorly maintained website inevitably gives a poor impression, like inviting your clients to have a look in your messy and untidy storage. If some parts of the business seem to be in bad shape, that can have a negative impact on the rest of your brand. When the trust in your brand is decreased, customers have a higher probability of going to a competitor who gives a better and more trustworthy impression.
• Poorly maintained and outdated websites run a much greater risk of having inadequate security and are more vulnerable to hacks. If customers believe that the website is not reliable, they will not want to shop there. It is especially important for companies who conduct sales via the Internet to have websites that come across as safe and secure to their customers, largely because customers want to reduce the risk of fraud or crime connected to financial transactions.

Similarly, a professional and updated website has the following positive effects on a company’s sales, customer base and brand:

• A good impression that is coherent and spans all of your customer contacts (physical store, website, service attitude, email newsletters, banners, leaflets) increases credibility, builds trust and strengthens the company’s brand and reputation.
• More customers will find the website, a consequence of the website consisting of updated content and code, making it easier for search engines to find and index your site. Since the website is easily found in web searches, and the information about location, map, directions and opening hours is updated, there are now also better opportunities for more customers to find the physical store.
• A professional and modern online shop can increase sales because it allows a company to expand its reach. Maybe you want to start selling nationwide, ship to other countries or simply offer your customers a more convenient shopping experience. An e-commerce is a great way to keep in touch with past customers who have moved to new locations, and facilitates sales to people who has received tips or heard recommendations about the business.

Crunching the Numbers

For those who prefer numbers rather than arguments: many web agencies use various instruments to produce statistical evidence to demonstrate the positive impacts on conversion, cash flow and number of contacts that comes with upgrading to a professional website.

Typical values used are:

• Number of increased visitors: How many more visitors come to the new website compared to the old one? Increased traffic means that your offer or message reaches more people, and therefore increases the amount of business opportunities.
• Number of increased purchases: How many more purchases have been made on the new website compared to on the old site (if applicable). How many more purchases has occurred outside of the website (for example in the physical shop) as a consequence of the company’s strengthened brand and reputation. How much has the new website helped increase the company’s total sales.
• Number of contact and quote requests: How many more contact and quote requests the new website generates compared to the old website (if applicable). A website layout and design that is tailored for a specific purpose – for example to generate a lot of quote requests – will do just that. A higher number of requests for proposals is also something that can boost a company’s sales.
• Decreased bounce rate: How much the so-called bounce rate has decreased on the new website compared to the old site. “Bounce rate” is a measurement of how many visitors leave the page almost instantly without really interacting. Ideally, you want to bring down the number of visitors who leave your website too quickly. Instead of turning on their heels, you want visitors to stay in the store or on the website, click around and view your products. If the number of visitors who remain on the website for a longer time increases, so will the number of customers and thus the company’s sales.

For each new project, we review the objectives for the new website. Based on these we then develop the layout, design and build the site or web shop. Every decision we take is part of tailoring the website to solve your problems, handle your challenges and cater for your needs.

Contact us if you need help updating your web presence.

• brand
• business
• marketing
• sales