Let’s be honest. How many people really understand or know what’s involved in getting your company or business name to appear as one of the top results on search engines such as Google or Bing? Do you? If you do or if you’re an IT person, you may skip the rest of this article unless you’re interested in learning about Website CPR (recommended).
You’re happy with your website – you’ve had it for years. You have it updated from time to time and you’re content with having your presence on the web. To you it’s like having a permanent online business card or brochure. People happen to find your site, take a few glances and, if you’re lucky, click on a couple pages. Voilá, a prospective client or customer may be contemplating to contact you. But, in reality, the calls or email inquiries are just not pouring in. As if they ever were! Talking to friends or colleagues or even your teenage kids you learn that the reason you may not have as many site visitors as you could is because your site is lacking, for example, effective anchor text to boost your SEO. And you go…huh, anchor text what? Upon further investigation you find out that “anchor” has nothing to do with boating, so you hire someone who does know what to do and who can guide your site to new heights. Then you sit back anxiously waiting for the promised results to roll in.
But maybe your website needs something else. Something that cannot be produced by computers, tech-savvy experts or algorithms alone. It’s called creativity. Creativity originated in the human mind. Filling a void where there was nothing but a blank page before. A genuine idea. An inviting layout. Not just a laundry list of services you offer. Not just lackluster stock photos but provocative, memorable images that capture people’s attention and stay with you. And copy that sells and is not dictated by the keywords your IT expert suggests must be present for the web crawlers to propel your site to a higher ranking. This may lead to a difficult choice. Either please the “robot” alias search engine or seduce the human site visitor. One might argue that it’s more important to cater to the robot since it produces more viewers. But what if those visitors are not enticed to spend more time on your site because it’s boring, predictable and laced with corporate jargon? Wouldn’t it be better to have fewer visitors but more that feel compelled to contact your company because your site is engaging, interesting and evokes emotional responses which lead to real, meaningful connections?
If you feel it’s about time to spruce up your site, sure, talk to an SEO coder and let him/her do their thing. But don’t ignore the other option and focus your attention on equallyimportant aspects: arresting visuals, a layout that intrigues and crisp copy that’s both informative and fun to read. In actuality, a desirable goal is to strike the right balance between functionality and excitement.
This article was featured in German American Trade Q4 2021