Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/47285
FEATURE STORY By Brad Smith The 5 Cs of a successful website If looks could sell T he purpose of a website is to make money, not to be a work of art. Easily, one of the biggest mistakes business owners make when developing their website is to put too much focus and attention on looks. This is quite understandable, consider- ing that in the brick-and-mortar world, the success of a business is often dependent on its appearance. The more effort put into the look and design of a facility, the better the business often does. Unfortunately, the same does not always hold true for your 24/7 online location. Here, too many graphics and Flash animations can affect your site's functionality, performance and rankings on search engines. For example, iPads don't even support Flash. Your website must be designed with visitors and search engines in mind — visitors to make sure they can quickly and easily find the information they need; search engines to ensure consistent, high rankings. If it's not designed with those factors in mind, it doesn't matter how slick it looks; it won't drive sales. Turning your website into a revenue-generating investment starts with the 5 Cs: Clean design, Current content, Concise information, Clear navigation and Contact strategy. Clean design Follow the KISS principle — Keep It Simple and Straightfor- ward. A clean design is simple, consistent and easy on the eyes, fea- turing attention-grabbing visual cues with heavy contrast to text. We are comfortable reading black text on a white background, so your design should reflect that reality to get your visitors' attention and encourage them to look further. Visitors get what they want or leave unsatisfied. Your site should state, "This is who we are and what we have to offer." It shouldn't concentrate on dazzling visitors; it has to focus on serving them, and converting them into customers — faster. A good rule of thumb is to include highly relevant content without generating confusion or creating too many distractions — Keep it simple. Look at high-traffic social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter or Craigslist. They all have adopted a minimalist approach to design, yet they are very successful. The best design speaks for itself. In a matter of seconds, visitors must understand who you are, what you do, and how to get to the information they came for. Current content Key pages of your website — including Inventory, Specials, Events and News — should be frequently updated to keep prospects and customers coming back for more. If you're not going to diligently refresh pages, you're better off removing them alto- gether. Empty or outdated sections show a lack of professionalism and dedication, and will turn prospects off. In addition to frequently updating informative pages, you should also clearly promote and regularly rotate products on high-traffic areas of your website. If you offer reference tools, such as an online parts lookup system, clearly promote and reference them in how-to articles to better target the do-it-yourself (DIY) crowd. Following are some proven best practices to keep your website fresh: • Showcase searchable inventory with key features and options, complete specifications, and eye-catching photos and videos to drive more qualified traffic. • Promote and regularly rotate products on high-traffic areas of your website. • Prominently display and cross-promote products on your web- site, such as the parts lookup system in how-to articles. • Provide complete service information, such as service menus and Q&As for the DYI crowd to drive incremental sales. 20 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com