Importance of a Website for Business Success.

[Fletcher Clardy]

Clarity Equity Group has been working on a new website since September 2019. We are now in the final stages of production and weeks away launch. Through this process I have learned many important new concepts about websites, content, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Our goal is to replace our old website, create a more modern sophisticated website that explains exactly what we offer in an elegant manner and is easy to use for the user.

To my Bigger Pockets family. What draws you in as a new user when visiting another professional's website?

1. What is important to have that makes you stay and seek more content?

2. What makes you immediately exit the page and not return?

3. How important is the design and navigation of the website?

4. If the website is poorly designed, is that a NO on the potential new relationship?

5. What content/information excites you to the point of subscribing to their email list?

All thoughts are welcome and greatly appreciated. Happy Monday all!

Fletcher/Consultant/Clarity Equity Group

[Joseph Cacciapaglia]

I very rarely spend any time on a company's website. I usually decide whether or not I want to work with a company from recommendations or through interactions on LinkedIn or of course BiggerPockets. In the rare instances that I do visit a company website, it's almost always to find someone's contact information. It's very important for me to see actual team members with full bios, and to be able to select individuals to email. Their contact info should be visible, not open a new window and try to use my outlook or something. I hate filling out a contact form or emailing an "info" email. 

There are some exceptions. For example, lenders that post prevailing interest rates are very useful. I'll sometimes frequent sites that have good quote calculators for mortgages or insurance. Other than that, I'm really just there for the contact info. My own website has a property search function. I think that's the only thing anyone actually uses. I find SEO is extremely oversold. I had websites that performed very well with organic search traffic 10 years ago, but today it's much more cost effective to have a good social strategy.

Sometimes when a website is so bad, it might deter me from doing business with them. However, sometimes if it's too slick, I think the owners aren't smart enough to realize they're blowing money on an ego project. This is especially true of small businesses that have very high end sites.

I don't think the free ebook trade for my email works very well anymore. I think most people have a throw away address that they use for those, or just unsubscribe right away. If you are providing truly valuable information to clients, that's a different story altogether. I'm on a bunch of "off market deal" email blasts, but the ones that don't send good deals get the unsub treatment. I think you really have to be giving away information that you'd prefer to be charging for, before people are actually excited to be on your list.