Katherine Andes

By Katherine Andes
It’s always something! It was bad enough you had to deal with getting a website up and running. Now your being told you’ve got to have a blog, a Facebook page, LinkedIn and Flickr accounts—and, oh, you have to start tweeting.

I don’t even want to tell you about the hundreds of other social media tools with suspiciously weird names, such as Squidoo, Vyoom, Qzone, Posterous and Bebo, you might want to use.

Not to worry. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Go ahead and start experimenting with the social media you’re attracted to and is easy for you to get started. Some you’ll really like; others you will eventually let go.

It may take some time, but you will be amazed at social media’s ability to bring new customers and contacts into your sphere of influence.

But, whatever you do, don’t neglect the heart of your company’s social media strategy: Your website!

Think about it, when you make a new contact via Twitter or Facebook, where will you send that person to show off your company? Your website, of course.

And now the moment of truth: Is your website terrific? Or was it built seven years ago and hasn’t been updated since?

Remember, your website should get just as much careful attention as the layout of your store.

So here are 10 terrific tips for improving your website, including ways to integrate it with other social media:

1. Include social media: Your website should have social media sharing tools on every page. You never know which page a visitor might want to share with a spouse or friend, and these sharing tools make it super easy to do. Also put logos and links to all your company’s social media pages so that people can follow you, become fans, etc.

Example: Load a general Share Tool button (I use one from AddThis.com), and place these two must-have accounts on your site: Facebook and Twitter.

2. It’s about her: Talk about the customer not your company. Focus on her and what you can do for her. Don’t begin your home page copy with “We” or the overused “Welcome.” Always frame everything in the second person. Begin with a catchy “You” or “Your” headline.

Example: Your stylish new carpet can be installed before Saturday’s party!

3. Uniqueness: The most important thing to focus on for your website is making it unique to you. Dump any canned content it came with or poorly written material. Think hard about what you do that’s truly different than your competitors and then demonstrate how it benefits your customers.

Example: You have the largest stock of floor coverings within “a geographic location,” so you can install faster than anyone else.

4. Speaking of installers—brag about them: A floor covering is only as good as the installation, so brag about the quality of your installers.

Example: You’ll love our factory-certified, highly-trained, installers who have a combined 50 years of experience, and are always supervised.

5. Contrast with the big boxes: Going back to the uniqueness theme, if you’re a local dealer, clearly demonstrate why it’s in your prospect’s interest to shop at your store as opposed to a big box store. Highlight the dangers of buying from a clerk that is not well informed or experienced with various floor product options the way your staff is.

6. Customize storefront website: In No.3, I mentioned, dumping canned content. Many dealers get off-the-shelf storefront websites and slap their names on them. That’s not good enough. Most pre-packaged sites will allow numerous options to personalize your pages.

Modify as much as possible and make it your own. Especially, insert portfolio pages and testimonials.

7. Portfolio pages and local SEO: The best personalization for flooring dealers is to have various portfolio pages showing actual work as opposed to showing stock images. Portfolio pages allow you to do local search engine optimization (SEO) with various cities in your area. Hint: List a particular city in the page copy and in the title and description tags.

Example: A client in a small town regularly lands jobs from all over the state because we’ve optimized various portfolio pages for various cities. His customers often bypass larger dealers in nearby cities because of his portfolio pages. I developed the above local search optimization method a few years ago, and I have yet to see anyone else doing it.

8. Prove the above: Your portfolio will go a long way to prove your claims, but you will also need plenty of testimonials. These can be difficult to secure. It’s not that people aren’t happy with your work; everyone is so busy these days they don’t take the time to write. Unless you have a drawer full of glowing letters, you will likely have to make some calls. It helps to have someone skilled in interviewing do this. If you do it, be sure to have some questions handy. You want more than, “You did a good job.” You want her to give you something with a lot more meat on it.

Example: “You not only did the job, you did it ahead of schedule. The installers were professional, courteous and friendly. Frank even laughed at my dumb jokes. By the way, we love our beautiful new floors. Thanks a million!” For the overachievers, get your testimonials on video and upload them to your website and YouTube.

9. Tell stories: In addition to getting testimonials from your customers, always be looking for stories you can tell that will illustrate interesting real-life situations.

Example: There was a local lady who bought wood from a guy with a truck and it warped from improper installation. If she had chosen us in the first place, she wouldn’t have lost money.

10. List benefits, capacity warranties: This seems obvious, but you might be surprised how many companies don’t clearly list their benefits, capacity and warranties.

Example: Have a page where all this information is listed. But don’t stop there. Blend the various points on other pages as well. Certain warranties might merit being on every page of your site. It’s the same as placing the social media links on every page, because you never know which one a visitor will land on when coming to your site.

These tips are not the whole story, but they will go a long way to getting you a website worthy of being the centerpiece of your social media world.

Katherine Andes is a web content and SEO specialist, especially in the home improvement market. Sign up for her weekly “Easy Web Tips” on her website, AndesAndAssociates.com. You can phone her at 559.589.0379 or email Kathy@AndesAndAssociates.com.