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DQ News: 5 Tweaks for Small Business Web Content

Google has once again tweaked its search engine functionality to put renewed stress on quality sites – and one of the criteria for quality is content that has been recently posted.  If you’re a small business you aren’t going to out-design larger competitors but you can make your site more compelling with a few personalized steps.   You can also bring more immediacy to your product lineup by changing the focus of your front page or your blog section on a regular basis.

1. Make your words count

By now every business professional understands that people read web pages differently than they read printed documents.  It’s more accurate to say that the typical web surfer scans rather than reads.  That’s why a few sentences or a brief paragraph accompanied by an image of some sort is far more effective than a page of detailed information.  Brief statements that cause a site visitor to click over to a more detailed description or illustration are proven tools on a website; but you want your visitors to seek out that sort of detail rather than have no other visual introduction to your site.

2. Make your blog a promotional tool

This is not as easy as it sounds, but the idea is to have your blogger write occasionally about actual cases of product usage where the product was purchased through your site and perhaps the client received some support on putting that product to use.  A few elements have to come together here: you need either someone in-house that can write or a blogger that is familiar with your market niche.

3. Put video to work

You can provide video shots of a product on display or in use.  A video insert can also feature a satisfied customer, if you have local sales where you can tape customers who are a car ride away.  It shouldn’t take your marketing person long to learn how to hold a camera steady and how to edit a piece so that conveys the message you want.  You can use video for a knowledgeable presentation on a product as well from you or one of your employees, but stay away from the “talking head” shot.  Your presenter should be working with a product or with a graphic aid of some sort.

4. Customer testimonials never hurt

Quotes from a customer who has had a positive experience are even better if they are accompanied by a visual of some sort – photo or video – illustrating your product as it has been installed or put to use.  If your customer is a few states away, find one that is supportive and ask for a photo or two.  Many people can take decent snapshots today with their phones.

5. Focus on quality and experience

If your business has been open for a while, you can talk about your successful growth and steady expansion of your customer base.  If it’s a new business, provide some evidence of related experience so that potential customers understand your depth of knowledge in your particular commercial field.

About the author: Bob Hartzell has been writing for five years about education, business and other life essentials on a variety of websites.  Much of his recent work has been about the online master’s degree and its value in career enhancement, for those who are not yet working for themselves.  He lives in Maine where many a small business operates out of a converted barn or farmhouse.

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