Hey,
How come most of the sites I see on here don't collect email addresses?
I see so many questions about leads and more than 90% the people who land on your websites are still in the research phase.
And if you think they're going to "bookmark" you might be wrong.
I'm just sick of reading people say "my website doesn't do sh*t!" when...sure your website might suck but you've gotta be able to bring those people back somehow.
It used to be commonly taught by Internet Marketing gurus that a website should always be "sticky" (i.e. - easy to navigate and full of content to maintain the attention of a visitor as long as possible) and also have something to bring visitors back again and again. The underlying needs of the average Contractor's website actually conflicts and contradicts with much of that. In my opinion this is major part of why some contractors are extremely dissatisfied with their websites:
(1) They had idealistic (and often unrealistic) expectations while the site was being built and once the site went live they were fed even more bull**** by people like Freelance Internet Marketeers and Search Engine Optimizers.
(2) They were never taught how to "think" about their website before before production on it started.
Unrealistic Expectations: I can't tell you how many times a week I get calls and emails from some fast-talking jacks who are promising to get my website to the top of the search engine results pages. Unfortunately for them I did web design from 1994 to 2005, in it since before there were search engines. I know the game. But what I'll do is sometimes play along to hear what promises they're going to make to get me to sign up. The claims have gotten ridiculous but the scary thing is that I know there have to be people out there who will buy into the bullsh*t and spend their hard-earned money for 3-to-6 months before realizing they're not getting a Return of Investment on it to make it worth while. Don't get me wrong; search engine optimization is not a bad thing at all and it has its place but it's not the Magic Bullet some of these so-called Internet Marketing gurus portray it as. Where Internet Marketeers might get excited and brag about 30,000+ visitors a month, to a contractor that doesn't mean anything unless those visitors send an email or call the office to set up a appointment.
How to Think about a Website: Speaking strictly on what I've seen since I entered the Contractor's World,
the most commonly held perspective about a website is that it is a high-tech paperless advertisement. The problem is that if you think about it that way, that's all it will be, and you'll treat it as such -- a square on a page with a slogan, a phone number, some text and sitting on a page where it might get looked at for a few seconds. With that mentality, it might as well be a tattoo on the side of an elephant at the circus.
A much more effective way to approach your website is to think of it as three dimensional, as if it is an extension of your physical office space -- almost like your own call center minus the "overseas apathy" and funky accents. And just like opening up a new location for your business:
- It needs to be promoted properly (both online and offline to direct traffic to it).
- It needs to have someone to staff it, ready to respond in a timely fashion. The difference is that whoever in your company responds to the inquiry will be more than just a phone jockey. They should be able to answer questions and make things happen.
- It needs to have its own 'inventory' where it can be reasonably self-sustaining. The difference is that this inventory is fresh, useful information that can be both supplied on-demand to the visitor as well as received from them.
Keeping those bulleted points in mind during the planning phase of a website will usually keep it from "sucking" once it's finished and the "new car smell" has worn off. The site would no longer be just a monthly fee for a dead weight. Instead it would be a living part of your company that helps educate your potential customers, shows them samples of what you can do, provides a streamlined means of them getting in contact with you and vise versa -- all of which helps win customer confidence which helps close the sale.
I'm not saying collect email addresses so you can send spam or crappy emails. But why can't you send an informative email once or twice a month to keep in touch with these passive visitors?
I'd like to hear your reasons.
Greg
Aside from landscapers and working with property managers, when a good contractor has done a job right s/he probably won't return to that location for months or years (if they even return at all). That said, it's borderline unreasonable to expect people to return to the average contractor's website on a regular basis. Outside of maybe looking up some basic care and maintenance tips, what else is there for the visitor after the contractor's work is done? Most of us don't need fan clubs, just new business and more customer referrals. I can see keeping and maintaining an email list that you'll send a newsletter out to but I can't see doing that more than once or twice a QUARTER (if that). Because a customer has given you their email address at some point, they already know who you are and if they didn't use your services you must have been up for serious consideration. Blasting them with emails once or twice a month won't help win them over.
Just my half-a-nickel... Hope it helps.