Note: This is a guest post by Jock Purtle. The author’s views are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of Deepanshu Gahlaut’s Blog.
It seems like a lifetime since business owners assumed they could get by on nothing but offline sales, and local retail. Today, everyone is active online, regardless of whether you’re a small-town bakery with a thriving social media presence, or a multi-national corporation, there’s a good chance you have at least some presence online.
Often, when it comes to “going digital” most companies will start by building their website. A website acts as the hub for all your online sales efforts. It’s where you’ll direct your customers when you want them to buy your products and services, where you’ll share content help people and build your reputation, and where you’ll earn the attention of buyers when you decide to sell your company.
As the face of your organization, your website can’t afford to be anything less than perfect. Today, we’ll be looking at the reasons why a great site is more than just an avenue for leads, and how it could be the key to selling your business.
1. A Website Establishes your Brand Identity
Unless you have a one-of-a-kind product, there’s a good chance that your company is online competing against a host of other people, all with similar price points, product features, and services to offer. With that in mind, how are you supposed to stand out from the crowd?
The simple answer is that you need to build a relationship with your target audience. For instance, did you know that 77% of people buy something from a company because they’re familiar with its name?
A reliable brand is a key to transforming your company into something that your prospects value and remember. When you create a stunning website, you can implement essential brand guidelines that help to identify your brand and give authenticity to your business. For instance:
- You can use specific brand colors to create a consistent appearance across online and offline channels.
- Your website can have blogs written in your distinct brand voice, reminding your customers of why they resonate with your company.
- Your website can include credibility factors like a phone number, business address, and even about your employees, which shows your customers they can trust you.
The stronger your brand identity becomes, the more your name will mean something within your chosen industry. Not only does this make it easier to develop a loyal following of committed customers, but it also ensures that when you decide to sell your business, your buyer will have a good idea of the quality they’re investing in.
2. A Great Website Highlights your Professional Nature
When buyers are looking for an opportunity to purchase a business, they don’t just look for signs that the organization is thriving financially and has a solid consumer base. While those things are important, most buyers will also want to know that they’re going to be working with a professional – someone they can trust to act with integrity after the deal has been struck.
A website gives an investing party in immediate insight into what kind of business they’re going to be working with. For instance, a site that’s been thrown together haphazardly indicates that you don’t care very much about the brand and that you’re not willing to go the extra mile to impress your audience. That’s not a good sign to your buyer.
On the other hand, if your website is easy-to-navigate, packed full of useful and interesting copy, and brimming with fantastic visuals, then it’s far more likely to leave your buyer feeling comfortable about their decision to work with you. At the same time, your professional nature will also appeal to your audience, who will be more likely to trust a company who demonstrates professionalism on their website.
Trust is a valuable commodity in the online world – regardless of whether you’re trying to convince a new collection of customers that your product is worth their money, or you’re trying to sell your business to the perfect would-be buyer.
3. A Good Website Makes You Easier to Find
Another great reason why companies need to invest more in their website design is that it could help them to become “discoverable” online. Remember, there are millions of websites out there, and many of those will be looking for a credible buyer too.
With that in mind, you need to make sure that your website is the first one to appear on the search engine result pages when someone searches for a keyword relevant to your business.
A great website design not only focuses on making your site look attractive, it also helps you to implement important SEO strategies that are useful for both growth-hacking and attracting buyers later down the line. For instance, did you know that website speed can have a huge impact on where you appear on the search engines?
If your website loads slowly, then your customers are more likely to hit the back button and take their money elsewhere. This gives you a high bounce-rate, a poor user experience, and a lower conversion.
On the other hand, if your website loads quickly, then your clients will be more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt and see what you have to offer. Using natural and intelligently placed keywords throughout your website design and implementing aspects of technical SEO will impress your buyer and make it easier for people from around the world to find you!
4. A Good Website Makes You More “Buyer-Friendly”
While our parents might have told us not to judge a book by its cover when we were growing up, the truth is that most of us struggle to follow that advice – particularly when it comes to evaluating companies. While you might have the best products and services in the world, it’s going to be hard for you to convince a buyer of that fact if you have an unattractive and outdated website.
The right selection of colors, shapes, and images on your site design can come together to have an emotional impact on your target audience. For instance, did you know that 33% of the top-performing brands in the world have the color blue somewhere on their website and logo? That’s because this shade demonstrates trust and reliability.
A beautiful and easy-to-use website makes people feel more comfortable about buying from you, and it can also seduce them into making that final purchase. Just as the right visuals can impact your audience’s buying decisions, they can also change how a business-buyer feels about you too.
Design Matters When Selling Your Business
It takes more than just an attractive website to convince someone to buy your company, but it’s a good place to start. Since most of your buyers will begin their journey into researching your company on your website, you can use your design as the ultimate chance to leave a lasting first impression on the right people.
With your website design, make sure you highlight the nature of your business, what makes you such a valuable investment, and why someone should trust you enough to give you their money. This will help you to earn customers, and eventually sell your brand too.
About the Author:
Jock Purtle is an industry leader and valuations expert for high-growth internet companies. As the founder of DigitalExits.com, he has been featured in a number of leading publications, including Entrepreneur.com, Business Insider, Forbes, and CNBC.
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