Your Website: An Asset or Liability?

What does your firm’s marketing look like? If your firm falls into the small and medium size, you may not have the funds to support a full-time marketing staff, or even hire a marketing firm to help you get your name out into the marketplace.  Today the tables have turned and the ball is in your court. There are ways that you can use the Internet and your website to your advantage, instead of calling on Don Draper to create your next big ad campaign. You have the power, through your website, to generate more leads for your business.

When websites first made their way into the marketplace and businesses started creating their own, they served more as an online brochure of sorts – a digital display of static pages and information. This was great when websites were first hitting the streets – who wouldn’t want a place to display information to the world about their business?  Unfortunately, most SMB accounting firm websites that I have come across have not evolved much since then. Brochures can be attractive, but I usually throw them away – I don’t convert them into business. What about you?

When your website is static and not pushing out new content on a consistent basis, Google does not pay attention to it or crawl it as much (or as often as you [should] want it to). There are several ways that you can turn your website into an asset, rather than a liability.

Blogging is a great way to get started on the path of turning your website/online presence into an asset. It will also help in generating traffic and help you “get found” on Google. Here are some business blogging ideas:

• tax tips and advice
• case studies
• talk about your niche market
• common payroll mistakes you find businesses making
• remember: content is key
• add or convert your newsletters into blog posts so they can be searched and referenced online

You can think of blogging like this:

The benefit of publishing a blog post is crystal clear and measurable: Each time you publish a blog post, you’re purchasing an annuity./via Hubspot

Your website will also be an asset for you if you are able to convert traffic into a lead. The leads will come to you, and, if you give them something valuable in return, they will be likely to trade you for their information. Some ways to convert traffic are by offering:

• Whitepapers
• A type of free consultation
• Research/studies
• eBooks
• Trials and samples
• Contests

Asset	Liability
blog associated with company website	static pages with some news events
lead conversion – trade contact information for free material	basic link with an email address to contact the firm
search box for searching content	no search box and newsletters or content not searchable
consistent and new content less than a month old	copyright 2008 or older
website designed by a professional	a few stock photos on a templated site

One tool that I find helpful is Hubspot’s Website Grader. The tool can help you determine how well your website is doing at getting traffic. It will also point out any SEO (Search Engine Optimization) issues, and how popular (or unpopular) it is in Social Media. I highly recommend heading over there to get your website graded.

Some other articles that I have enjoyed reading are:
Why Your Business Blog Is an Annuity
Inbound Marketing: The Next Phase of Marketing on the Web
Free Advertising on Google

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