Is your WordPress Website Secure?

Posted on by Ken Granger

If you have a WordPress website and it was hacked, you know how it can stop your business in its tracks.  It means site traffic will slow to a crawl, that critical functionalities won’t be available to you, and that you risk losing business.  You should also know that you’re not alone.  In 2012, for example, more than 170,000 WordPress sites worldwide were hacked, and that number has increased in subsequent years.

I Have a Small Business, So I’m Safe, Right?

Wrong.  Hackers don’t care about what you do, or who your customers are, or how big or small your business is.  They only care about one thing:  is your site vulnerable to hacking?

If it is, they’ll go after it, and typically through an automated attack.  Like search engines, hackers rely on bots which crawl the internet to identify vulnerable sites.  When you think about it, this approach makes sense from the hacker’s point of view:  automating the process allows them to check out multiple sites simultaneously, and in this way, increase their odds of success.

Why Would Hackers Go After My WordPress Site?

There are many reasons hackers might be interested in your website.  Perhaps you process customer financial information, like credit card numbers.  In some cases, hackers will use your site as an entrée to your customers’ computers and gain access to their personal information.  Finally, hackers might want to use the hardware on your server to send out spam emails or perform “denial of service” attacks.

How Do Hackers Gain Access to WordPress Sites?

The most common means of gaining access to a WordPress site is through the hosting platform. According to WP Template, more than 40% of all WordPress hacks occur in this way.  Another 29% of hacking attacks happen as a result of insecure WordPress themes, while 22% occur through plugins, and another 8% because of weak passwords.

What Can You Do to Keep Your WordPress Site Safe from Hackers?

Fortunately, there are some simple, proactive steps you can take to protect your WordPress website:

1.  Choose A Reliable Host

As noted above, the most frequent cause of hacking is the hosting provider.  You should choose a reliable host which prioritizes the security of its client sites, supports the most recent versions of PHP and MySQL, and performs periodic security scans and backups.

It’s also important to choose a host with experience hosting WordPress sites.  They’re more likely to be cognizant of the hacking issues specific to WordPress, and to effectively guard against them.

2.  Back Up Your Data—Regularly

Even if you’re careful and perform all the due diligence to prevent a hack, there’s no guarantee you’ll be spared.  For this reason, you need to regularly back up critical information on your WordPress site.  The best hosts will usually do this for you, but it’s always a good idea to use a good backup program on your own.  Some of the best are also free, including Duplicator, UpdraftPlus and WordPress Backup to Dropbox.

3.  Strengthen Your Login Information

Many WordPress hacks occur due to inadequate login information, like weak passwords.  This is especially true for attacks in which hackers run automated, random usernames and passwords until the hit on the right ones.

To protect your site, avoid obvious passwords, like “123456,” “password” and “login.”  You should also change your passwords from time to time, stay away from your admin username, and store your login information in a secure location (like LastPass).

4.  Use WordPress Security Plugins

WordPress offers a range of plugins which will help make your blog secure from known threats, and it’s in your interest to make use of them.  Some of the best include WordFence, BulletProof Security, Sucuri Security, iThemes Security, and 6Scan Security.

Conclusion

These are just a sampling of the steps you should take (now!) to keep your WordPress site safe.  Others include making sure your WordPress site is up to date, hiding your WordPress version number, using only those themes and plugins which are absolutely necessary, setting correct file permissions, and disabling the plugin and theme editor.  You’ve spent a lot of time and energy getting your WordPress site up to speed.  You owe it to yourself—and your business—to take the proactive steps necessary to ensure its safety and security.

Building Your Website: DIY or Hire a Pro?

Posted on by Ken Granger

A website is a must for a company of any size today. While some web presence is better than none, a high-quality, useful website can help to bring in clients and customers and grow your business. There are tons of tools available to build your own website, but it can be time-consuming, especially if you don’t know where to start. Read on to learn more about the pros and cons of creating your own website.

What You Need To Create A Great Site

Your website can serve as the face of your company. It may be the way that people discover you, so you want to create a great impression from the beginning. You want your website to be informative, intuitive, and well thought out. Even if you have great content to offer, you have to display it in a way that is attractive and easy to navigate.

Today, you can have a website up and running in under a day with online creation tools. They seem to offer simplicity, customization, and cost-effectiveness, which can be great if you simply want to have an online presence. But when it comes down to it, there is so much involved in building a successful website. You may have a great grasp on what your customers want and need, but translating that into web content can be tough.

To create a great site, you’ll need a strategy, a goal, and some expertise in a few areas. It’s important to have at least a basic grasp of graphic design, search engine optimization, digital content creation, marketing, and user experience. If you don’t have much knowledge in these areas, creating your own site can end up costing you more time, energy and frustration than you were originally prepared for.

Why Hire A Pro?

You have a great story to tell with your website, so hiring a professional web designer is a good idea if you want:

  • Strategy – a professional web designer can take your vision and turn it into reality. Maybe you have great content and images, but just don’t know how to translate that into a stunning website. A good designer will work closely with you to map out a strategy that will take your ideas into consideration.
  • Smart Design – a designer will help to customize every aspect of your site, from font to color to layout, so it looks perfect and functions smoothly. They will make sure the site displays well on mobile (more than half of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site,) and will enhance your site’s user experience.
  • Search Engine Optimization – When you put time and effort into building a website, you want to make sure people find it! SEO isn’t just about using the right terms in your content. If you want to acquire more traffic through search engines, you’ll need to make sure that your website doesn’t have broken links or poorly coded pages. If looking at HTML makes your head spin, a professional designer can help to make sense of it, and make sure that your site ranks high on Google.
  • Professionalism – a well-designed website will help people remember your brand, while a poorly designed site may make people not want to come back! If you want your site to do its job well, it has to look nice and function properly. A professionally designed site simply looks better than one you put together yourself.

When it comes down to it, hiring a professional web designer can save you time and frustration, and deliver a beautiful and effective finished product. If you’re looking for a pro to design your website from scratch, contact us for more information!

4 Startup Branding Must Haves

Posted on by Ken Granger

Branding your start-up may appear overwhelming at first, especially if you don’t have a strong marketing background. Learning what to prioritize is helpful in reducing stress and in developing a plan. Building brand recognition doesn’t happen overnight, yet no strong brand has ever stopped improving their brand messaging. Here are four important branding requirements for your start-up:

A Solid Domain Name

A domain name serves as your business identity and as such, requires careful thought. While a catchy name may appear fun to you, it isn’t going to help people identify with what services you provide. Research has found that URLs that tell what they do receive more clicks than URLs with random names.

Most start-ups are starting out with limited budgets. When relying on word-of-mouth as your premier marketing tool, it’s important to create a domain name that is easy to pronounce and meaningful. Not only is a domain name essential to your marketing plan, it is a top-of-list item in developing your start-up. People create and secure domain names at rapid speeds in today’s fast-paced business world. To get started, search for your domain name today.

A Branded Email Address 

Using a branded email address promotes your start-up by reinforcing your brand name and not Gmail’s brand name. An impressive 86 percent of professionals name email as their favorite mode of communication. As a start-up, having a branded email address as credibility and trust—recipients are less likely to think of the email as a scam if it arrives from a branded address. Creating a branded email is relatively inexpensive, easy, and sometimes even free, depending upon your domain name provider or web hosting company. At BrandCo we recommend using G-Suite: a powerful tool of Google products that includes a custom and branded email address.

A Professional Website

According to a survey conducted by the research firm Clutch, 46 percent of U.S. small businesses still don’t have a website for their company. Research results determined that not having a website is more costly than creating a site. Think of your website as your branding foundation. What does your business card, social media, brochures, and advertising all point to as your call-to-action? That’s right—your website. Creating a website can be as simple as a one-page site. A good site doesn’t have to have bells and whistles but it does need updates, brand consistency with the accompanying marketing tools, and most importantly, it must be mobile friendly.

A Solid Business Card

Business cards still provide relevance in today’s networking world. Online networking hasn’t completely replaced the face-to-face networking power that remains a strong force for business development. While handing out a small, paper card may seem old-fashioned, it is still the fastest and easiest way to share your business information. In designing a business card for your start-up, keep the following two tips in mind:

  • Avoid covering the entire card—only include the most important information. This leaves some white space in case the potential client wants to add a note about you to your card.
  • Get it professionally printed—saving money by printing them yourself with your home printer may seem like a great idea but it’s a cheap way to make a first impression. Spend the money to have them professionally printed shows you care about your brand and the quality it represents.

Continue Building Your Brand

Once you’ve completed the four tasks above, you can start thinking about your logo. Secure your domain name, set up an associated email address, create a website, and print business cards. Do these steps first and build upon them as your start-up grows. For more information about how BrandCo helps small businesses, contact us today.

Why WordPress & WooCommerce Are the Best Tools for an e-Commerce Site

Posted on by Ken Granger

You know you need an online presence for your business. The question is, how should you go about building a website? There are so many different options and services and software applications that all the choices available can be dizzying. Particularly to a small, service-based business owner or local merchant whose hands are quite full already.

You need is a web platform that is effortlessly turnkey, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when building your new website. What you need is WordPress, which now powers 30% of the sites across the web. WordPress was created originally in 2003 as a blogging tool but has evolved into a complete content management system with e-commerce functionality.

That’s where WordPress and WooCommerce come in. Combined, these two tools are all you need to succeed online, whether your main goal is to sell products or services (which you can do with WooCommerce), or generate leads (which you can do with a WordPress contact form), or retain customers (which you can do by creating great content to post on your blog).

Wonders of WordPress

WordPress is a content management system or CMS built on open-source software, which means it can attract more collaborators (i.e., web developers who are willing to work for free) than it would if it were a paid platform.

So, web developers from all over the world can create WordPress compatible themes, plugins, shortcodes and more – all of which you can leverage for your site. Its open-source platform is one reason why WordPress is the most popular CMS today.

WordPress offers quick installation, built-in security, more than 11,000 themes, which are customizable website layouts, and over 54,000 plugins such as WordPress SEO by Yoast, so you can get noticed by Google and your website will be returned in users’ Google search results.

WordPress makes it easy to build a site by simply selecting a design or theme, choosing a few widgets or plugins to add functionality and special features, and by adding your content as a subject matter expert. WordPress also offers a community forum, where you can interact with WordPress users at large, bounce an idea off someone else or see if it’s already been done.

Why WooCommerce

If you want to add e-commerce functionality to your WordPress site, WooCommerce is a great choice because it was built on the WordPress platform. Thus, WooCommerce seamlessly integrates with e-commerce with content in a highly compatible interface.

WooCommerce is also highly customizable, which means you can use it to sell anything – from clothes to can openers and other physical products to digital downloads and subscriptions. You can even use it to book appointments and consultations.

As a WordPress compatible plugin, WooCommerce is free and open-source, making it a popular choice for small to large-sized businesses who want to sell products or services online. Trends indicated that WooCommerce runs on 30% of e-commerce sites and millions of active installs.

Additionally, WooCommerce offers a number of popular extensions such as WooCommerce Bookings, which allows users to sell blocks of time as appointments, and WooCommerce Memberships, which you can use to restrict access to certain parts of your website or sell access to certain parts of your website.

A Dynamic Duo

When you combine WordPress with WooCommerce, you have a dynamic duo of tools at your disposal. Together, they can help you build your brand and online presence, which will bring you more business in the long and short run.

As a service-based business owner such as a real estate agent, or a mom-and-pop shop, we at BrandCo understand that your No. 1 goal is to grow your business. That’s why we’re here! Contact BrandCo today to get started.

6 Ways to Lower Your Website’s Bounce Rate

Posted on by Ken Granger

When brands are building and maintaining a website, the focus tends to lie on design and content. While those are definitely important aspects of a website, the reality of a successful website is a bit more nuanced than the two. Great content and design might attract users, but it is more important to keep them engaged and keep them from leaving your website.

In a nutshell, that is what bounce rates comprise of. It is the rate and speed at which users leave your website, and having a high bounce rate can be extremely telling. It usually means that your site is able to attract users (great!) but is not succeeding in keeping their attention (not so great!)

So how do you keep your bounce rate down? There are some tips you can start incorporating into your overall digital and website strategy now to keep that rate as low as possible:

1) Strong website design

The first step in keeping your audience on your site? Designing a strong website. It sounds easier said than done, but the truth is, it is easier to accomplish than you might think. The first mistake that many people make with website design is sticking to cookie-cutter formats in an effort to be safe.

However, that ends up boring the end user and ultimately is not good enough to really keep any engagement. These users are on your site to learn about what makes you unique, so use your website to showcase these qualities and keep their interest. Work with professionals who understand best practices in website design in order to mitigate this.

2) Catering to your audience

Use your unique qualities as the starting point when thinking about website design. Professionally designed websites are able to give users exactly what they want and keep their attention. Before embarking on that process, think about what it is that users seek out. Is it your content, or specific information, or a combination thereof?

Use that as a guiding principle in working with a team in constructing a design that allows users to engage with your brand the way they want but also keeps their interest as they peruse the site.

3) Creating visible call-to-action graphics

The next few tips are all geared towards creating different ways for users to engage with your content. One way to accomplish this is to create visible call-to-action graphics that garner interest and are conveniently located throughout the site.

Heavy text on a website might be tempting when conveying information, but it does not encourage users to stay throughout. Having graphics will break up text in a natural way while still capturing their attention and thereby lowering the bounce rate.

4) Asking for small commitments from the users

One of the challenges for many websites is to keep users engaged and keep them moving down the funnel. The best way to do this? Ask for small commitments from the users. This might come in the form of the aforementioned graphics, or simply providing snippets of content and ending with a ‘read more.’

This will not only keep users engaged with your content, thereby lowering your bounce rates but it will also provide greater insight into what content seems to resonate most with your users. This is incredibly important as it will also allow you to further refine your digital strategy and continue to lower the bounce rate.

5) Call to actions throughout your website

Not all users are created equal, which means that not every user will land on your homepage. They might find your content elsewhere, or be searching for a term that leads them to an interior page rather than the main one.

To keep those users from bouncing, ensure that there are visible calls-to-actions throughout the interior pages (either in the form of text, or graphics or a combination). Make them easy to find, and this will help them navigate your site even if they are not on the main page.

6) Multiple ways to engage with content

Finally, provide users with ample ways to get deeper into the website in order to keep them from bouncing. Whether it is text links, images, buttons – these are all ways to keep users engaged with your content and your website. Having these elements will make it easy to navigate, while still giving users the opportunity to learn more about you and what makes your business unique.

4 Ways Your Small Business Can Make a Lasting Impression

Posted on by Ken Granger

Small Businesses rely on those moments when potential customers connect your charisma and personality with the image of your company. When they touch your business card for the first time and run a finger over the logo, they are mentally noting that they want to find you again and actually close a deal with you.

Every moment of this encounter matters, and there are at least four excellent ways to ensure that your potential clients not only recognize you, but start spreading the word about you themselves. Pave the way for them with these smart moves to make a lasting impression.

Create a Professional Logo

Branding experts have a great feel for what design elements make a company look young, edgy, traditional, trustworthy, and so many other elements. When a design professional sits down to talk to you about logo design or re-design, you’ll know instantly that they understand exactly what will draw in the clientele your small business wants to attract.

Strong logo designers know that your input is vital to the final choices in the branding process, so they will deliver options for you to help choose which design fits your needs best before they add final touches to the chosen logo. When you choose a professional logo designer, you can be confident that the work is guaranteed and backed by experience, and people who see it will unconsciously trust your brand more every time they encounter the logo.

Quality Business Cards

Your logo combines with paper quality and vital information to become a physical object when you order business cards. Quality paper, color and unique design all contribute to the impression you make when you hand over a card. Working with a business card designer rather than just typing up some details on card stock gives you an edge over fledgling businesses and makes you stand out as professional and prepared.

A Strong, Clear Online Presence

While most small businesses have some form of social media or website, these sites are actually the first impression that many potential clients will receive. It’s a shame when someone who is ready to buy cannot find a phone number to call or the hours of business because of poor website layout.

Web designers understand where people’s eyes are drawn on a computer screen, and they can bring their expertise to bear on design elements of a website, especially by making vital information easy to find while using beautiful typography and layout. The construction of a customized and beautiful website will also convey quality to those who visit the site; customers may come to you ready to work with you simply because they like and trust what they see online.

Getting Found: Search Engines and Social Reviews

While some people may find your website because of your business card, others will simply go to Google or Bing and type in the services they want in a particular location. A branding agency can help make sure that your website has the content needed to be found by search engines, so that the person looking for your business without remembering the name will still find you first.

At the same time, people look to social media and review websites to get the real story, so working with a branding professional can be a great way to get to know which reviews exist of your business already and how you can encourage current satisfied customers to review you online. The same content that helps people find your website can also help them find reviews; you want the web visitors to discover more about you while also discovering just how well-loved your business is!

How Important are Business Cards?

Posted on by Ken Granger

Every respectable business person has business cards. But why? The easy answer is so that people have the means of getting in touch with you. However, in today’s world, with digital representation a must, everyone can be found just as easy on Google, Facebook, even LinkedIn.

Studies have shown that people throw away most business cards they are given. At the end of your day, do you want a pocket full of small pieces of paper? Nobody does.

However, the ones that are kept succeed in two areas where the ones in the trash can failed:

  1. They remind the cardholder of a good experience.
  2. Nobody is going to look at your card later and say “Wow that guy was a jerk, better hold on to this card!” But if their reaction is “Oh yeah, he made that funny joke!” or “We talked about that great business deal!” It is easy to connect those to “I should put this card somewhere important!”

People keep cards that look impressive.

Your card’s impact is controlled more by visual experience than information provided. Everybody has an email, everyone has a phone number, it’s how that info is presented that causes people to pay attention to it.

People also show off and talk about impactful business cards they’ve received. Your card can be so impressive and unique that it’s actively continuing to market for you, even after being handed out.

How do you achieve these two factors and regain business cards as a useful tool for your business?

To ensure that you’re represented uniquely and your first impression is a strong one, you have to have custom designed branding.

Is Your Real Estate Website Good… or GREAT?

Posted on by Ken Granger

As a real estate agent, your website is constantly in competition with larger sites like Zillow and realtor.com. And as homebuyers browse these sites, most of them don’t stop to think about the quality of the content they are looking at. If they see some house photos next to an asking price, they simply won’t think to look anywhere else. But you know that you can offer so much more than a generic real estate database. You have years of expertise, an understanding of local neighborhoods, and the ability to read your clients and grasp their needs. You just need your website to showcase your skills to the world. Here are three ways to create a great real estate website that will impress potential clients and bring in new business.

Use your brand to stand out from the crowd

The real estate industry is an incredibly crowded field. In any given town or city, you may be competing against hundreds of other realtors for client business. And in major metro areas, you’re probably competing against thousands of other agents. So how do you differentiate yourself? By creating a brand that distinguishes you from everyone else. Your brand is your motto, your commitment, and your expertise all rolled into one. Do you pledge to be on call for your clients 24/7? Do you promise to provide unmatched and unparalleled service? Or do you specialize in helping first-time buyers find their dream home? Then your brand needs to reflect those qualities that set you apart. And what about your niche or your area of expertise? Perhaps you know everything there is to know about the historic neighborhoods of your city. Or maybe you specialize in new developments and custom homes. Build your brand around those identifiers to help you stand out from other agents and other websites.

Provide real-world examples

You have something that generic real estate websites don’t have, and that’s a string of success stories. If you’ve sold 10 homes in the last month, don’t just trumpet it on your website; show it! Show examples of homes that you’ve sold, and display glowing reviews and quotes from your happy clients. Pictures are crucial to drawing in visitors and keeping them on your site, so try to include warm, personal photos of happy clients to give your site a personal touch. You can even integrate an Instagram or Twitter feed into your online strategy to help generate buzz and bring in new visitors. Whatever your method, show homebuyers examples of the success they could find if they decide to work with you.

Showcase your local expertise

One advantage that you have over gigantic websites and real estate databases is the fact that you have boots on the ground. You are the expert on everything local and you can provide advice that no monolithic website can offer. Perhaps the neighborhoods you represent have the best schools in the city. Or maybe you’re selling homes in a city that was recently annexed, so you can comment on all the new services that residents will enjoy. Whatever the case may be, you should find ways to bring your local knowledge to the forefront and draw your customers in. You can include links to local news stories, or highlight neighborhood restaurants and stores. Homebuyers should feel like they already fit into the neighborhood you are showcasing when they visit your website.

Your real estate website may be good, but it needs to be great in order to compete successfully in today’s real estate market. Pick your niche, build your brand, and show the world why you are the best real estate agent for the job.

The Importance of Social Proof for Your Business

Posted on by Ken Granger

Social proof is now a major factor when it comes to attracting more customers to any business. No one likes to be the first to try something. Most people are more comfortable when others try something first and recommend it. That’s why word-of-mouth and personal referrals are so powerful. When you can get these, you’re getting something you can never get from advertising. The next best thing is reviews. While people may not know the review writers, it still constitutes social proof that your business is worth trying. Let’s look at why this phenomenon is so important and explore some tips on getting more reviews for your business.

Set Up Profiles on Major Review Sites

You can only get reviews on Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and others if your profile is set up with them. You can still publish reviews and testimonials on your own website, of course. However, many people trust third-party sites the most. Google is especially important for local businesses as reviews are tied in with Google Maps and search engine listings. People searching for your type of business will see reviews in the listing along with directions on how to get there. Yelp is important for many types of businesses as well.

If your business is in an industry that has specialized review sites, don’t overlook these. Avva and Lawyers.com, for example, are specifically for attorneys. Healthgrades if for medical professionals. Listings on such sites are very valuable when people are searching for a trusted service in a particular industry.

Request Reviews

While some customers will leave reviews without being asked, these are a minority. The best way to get more reviews is to ask for them. You can do this in a number of ways, depending on your type of business and how you interact with customers. Here are a few possibilities.

  • If you have a store, restaurant, or other brick and mortar business, hang a sign near the cash register or receptionist’s desk reminding people to leave reviews. You might specify a Google or Yelp review.
  • Place a link on your website to your review sites.
  • Request reviews in emails to your customers. This is one of many good reasons to collect email addresses and send out messages regularly. It’s best to link directly to your review page.
  • Ask for reviews on your business cards, posters, brochures, or anywhere that you promote your business.
  • Train your employees to remind customers to leave reviews. They should do this in a polite and low-key manner, of course.

Monitoring and Engaging With Reviews

If you’re listed on review sites and request reviews from customers, you should start seeing a greater number of reviews. It’s important to monitor your reviews and interact with your customers. You always want to stay informed about reviews about your business. You can do this by logging in to review sites regularly, setting Google Alerts, or by using reputation management software or services. It’s essential to respond to both positive and negative reviews. When someone says something complimentary about your business, make sure you thank them. This shows that you appreciate their comments and encourages other customers to leave reviews.

Responding to Negative Reviews

No one likes negative reviews but sooner or later you’ll have to deal with them. Even the most customer-friendly businesses have dissatisfied and disgruntled customers from time to time. When someone criticizes you, don’t take it personally and never respond emotionally. You definitely want to avoid getting caught up in arguments on public forums. This can only harm your business and reputation.

If the customer brings up a legitimate issue, do your best to resolve it. When appropriate, offer a refund, exchange, or coupon. If the customer says something that you don’t agree with or that’s blatantly false, state your position in a rational and polite tone. When possible, it’s best to contact the customer off-site if you have his or her email or phone number. In some cases, unscrupulous competitors or trolls may post fake reviews. Some sites, including Google, have a policy of removing reviews that they determine are fake. Others, however, such as Yelp, will not usually remove reviews.

Use Reviews and Social Proof to Build Your Business

Reviews are essential for attracting customers and growing your business. Make this part of your long-term marketing strategy. The more reviews you get, the more social proof you accumulate. Don’t worry about a few bad reviews. Most readers look at the overall pattern and base their opinions on what the majority of customers think.  If you track your reviews, engage with customers, and provide great service, you’ll find that positive reviews outnumber negative ones by a wide margin.

5 Ways Your Website Can Build Credibility for Your Business

Posted on by Ken Granger

As a small business owner, you face a unique challenge that many larger companies don’t have to worry about: how to establish your credibility. How does a new customer know that you are legitimate? Or that you do great work and are reliable? The first place customers will turn to look for these answers is the Internet. Do you have an online presence that’s easy to find and that will answer their questions? That’s exactly what customers want to know before they’ll give you their business. Here are five reasons you need to have a website if you want your business to be credible.

Help customers find your business.

If people hear about your business from friends or from an advertisement, do you think they’ll remember the exact name of your business or know how to contact you? Most people will search for your business online. But they’ll typically only have enough patience for one or two quick Google searches. As soon as a competing business or a business with a similar name catches their eye, they’ll move on to someone else. That’s why it’s essential that you have a well-branded, easy-to-find website, and that it uses SEO strategy to bring your company to the top of search results.

Show that your business is real.

If you’re relying on your Facebook page or a LinkedIn profile to be the face of your company, then you could be losing potential customers who don’t view your company as a real business. Your website is your virtual storefront, and as an entrepreneur, you need to build it just like you build every other aspect of your business. If a potential customer only has your Facebook page – or worse, nothing at all – to go by, then your business venture may look more like a hobby. The more professional your website looks, the more your customers will instinctively trust that you are a real business.

Showcase your product or your services.

A potential client may have heard that you’re a real estate agent, but does she know that you have 20 years of experience and that you’re an expert on the local neighborhoods? Or perhaps a family with children is looking for a new dentist. They may see your sign as they drive by, but can they tell you specialize in pediatric dentistry? Your website is the best vehicle you have to showcase your services or your products, as well as your expertise.

Stand out from the crowd.

What’s the first thing you do before you eat at a new restaurant? If you’re like most people, you probably check out any online reviews. As part of building credibility, you have the power to showcase customer testimonials and positive reviews on your own website. Don’t take it for granted that positive reviews will find their way to your potential customers through Google or Yelp searches. Instead, make customer testimonials and glowing reviews part of your website and part of your overall marketing strategy.

Connect with customers.

As a business, it’s not enough to market yourself to the world. You also have to give the world a way to talk back to you. Whether it’s by Facebook post, Twitter message, email or phone call, your consumers need to know that they can reach you. And your website is where you can direct people to the best method of communication. Remember that your customers don’t need to know whether you are one person or ten people answering their questions; with a website, you’ll present a unified and professional image.

As a business owner, you have one shot at making a great first impression. Make sure your website is doing just that.