Although nearly 46% of the world isn’t connected to the Internet, the billions who enjoy this benefit are using it more than ever before, albeit in different ways than before. But smart marketers know, to catch fish you must go where the fish hang out – so smart businesses have a presence on the Internet. But with more and more people spending even more time online, it’s time to beef up your company website.
Revamping your website during the COVID-19 pandemic should include the very basics and some very specific actions to better position you to serve your clients and target audiences. And, of course, keep your business thriving. What do we suggest? We’re glad you asked!

Improve the Online User Experience

These are basic things that you should do periodically, regardless of a pandemic or business as usual. Internet use in 2020 simply demands these things to be competitive with every other website. If you haven’t made these upgrades yet, now is the time.

1. Publish High-Quality Content
2. Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly (including Voice Search)
3. Create a Secure Website (HTTPS)
4. Check All Links for Functionality
5. Optimize Your Page Speed
6. Master Your On-Page Optimization
7. Earn Relevant & Authoritative Backlinks

These important elements make it easier for users to access your content and offerings, thereby making it a more pleasant experience to access your website. Helpful sites where users can get what they need quickly and easily are bookmarked for later use. Returning users are statistically more likely to become paid clients.

Focus on Improving Social Proof

Social proof is testimony from actual users about your products, services, and overall customer service efforts. Good social proof strengthens your business reputation and makes it more likely that others will choose your business over your competitors. During this time as you make needed website changes, reach out to your clients, and ask for a review of your services to them or the products they have purchased.
A good practice is to provide links where they can access the referral sites you prefer with a single click from the email you send asking for a review of your products/services. Ask current and former clients to share their bad reviews with you by replying to the email, and share their positive experiences on your Google My Business and Yelp! Listings. Also, let them know that any positive reviews they share may possibly be used on your website and that their sharing grants you permission to repost their comments.
Google My Business – If you haven’t already, claim your Google My Business page, personalize it, add some photos, and start directing users to it for testimonials.
Yelp! – Connects people with great local businesses. Claim your Yelp! Business Page, personalize it and share it with your clients when you ask for their reviews.
Testimonials – If you have a means for users to share reviews directly on your website, this can be a great way to gather testimonials. If not, ask for written comments when users visit your Google and Yelp! Business Pages.
Add an email to your system that automatically goes to every paying client and asks for written reviews about your service. Provide direct share links to your pages to make commenting easy.
 

Align Your Website to Better Serve Your Business Goals

How have you revamped your business goals during the pandemic? If you have new goals and strategies for accomplishing them, it’s time to align your website to help you reach those goals. For example, if you have a goal to improve sales by %15 this year, and one goal to help you do that is to sell 100 eBooks this year, you can create a new eBook landing page on your website and send traffic to it via different means.
Another example could be a goal to gather 500 solid leads in the next three months. Optimize your key pages with newsletter signup forms and create a hot new lead magnet as an offer for new signups. The key is to better use your website and its various components to help you reach your business goals.
Here’s more about some ways you can optimize your website to help you meet business goals.

Offer Enticing Lead Magnets to Increase Traffic to Areas that Need Growth

I mentioned this above because lead magnets can really boost your traffic and conversions. Offering something of value for contact information is a great way to swap value for value, like an old-fashioned trading post. In order to really maximize their potential, lead magnets should:

1. Solve a real problem.
2. Focus on one thing.
3. Be easily understood and used.
4. Offer high value to users.
5. Be instantly accessible.
6. Demonstrate your unique value proposition or expertise.

The best lead magnets are simply too good to pass up for sharing a simple name and email address. They directly impact a genuine pain point of your target audience. This generates interest in the free offering and gathers you a new lead for your mailing list that is already interested in what services or products you provide.

Invest in Paid Ads

When your website is fully optimized and aligned with your new business goals, you should consider investing in paid ads. Advertising is iffy many times, especially on the Internet, as it is a long game and not a place for quick results. In light of the pandemic, many have pulled back from using paid ads; at least for the time being.
But this means an opportunity for you. With fewer companies using paid ads, prices, and competition in your niche are likely very low – lower than they have been in a long time. Create quality ads and go after some keywords and phrases that were used on your newly optimized content and site pages.

Install Analytics and Pay Attention to Traffic Patterns

Now is the ideal time for watching where your traffic is coming from to discern patterns. When you see who is visiting your website the most, focus more advertising (free and paid) and content on that demographic.
A great tool to easily implement Real-Time Stats is the WordPress plugin Proven. This displays your most recent sales and newsletter signups in a small but attention-grabbing popup. This real-time information can be compelling to current users who see for themselves that others are taking advantage of your offerings and expertise.
How else can you revamp your website for better service and profitability through the pandemic? Share your ideas in the comments section!