Slow websites suck, that’s the plain truth. Webpage abandonment cost businesses $5Bn in 2018 alone, simply because in the age of 4G/LTE speeds, no client has as much patience. Most high-speed internet users expect to load a landing page in under 3 seconds, while more lenient ones can tolerate 5 seconds. So believe it or not the Facebook algorithm, as Google implemented previously, now considers load times when scoring or ranking web links and web pages shared. Hence your need for a professional B2B Website.
Why Such A Big Deal?
Interestingly the Facebook algorithm now estimates load times of links shared and penalizes poor loaders with a lower rank in your friend’s news feeds. It’s not much of a surprise because faster loading pages on sites benefit direct, organic, paid and referring traffic channels. And modern online users respond to speed. So why would you take your B2B website lightly if Facebook doesn’t?
Google Notices Too!
Google also penalizes poor websites. Without any budging, Google gives strong reasons. They simply stated that their clients always cited that time is money, and value their online time, so why not reward sites that understand that. It made business sense as a profit company and will be for our own good in the long run. Statistics show that poorly loading websites have lower conversion rates as clients get frustrated, either abandoning a purchase or going to the competition. Research showed that it hinders repeat purchases too.
Purchase Decisions
With the digital revolution is more televised than ever, the testament is with business owners looking for services and products no longer being ‘naïve’ with options. Many business to business customers now start their purchase decisions with informal research on business blogs, going through over 5 options before making a decision. Blind luck, nepotism and connections are almost dinosaurs with competition being stiff in the B2B arena. And the front desk and first impression is always your website.
Many prospective B2B clients invest more time than B2C clients in doing online due diligence. This is no surprise as many tend to be more particular with what they want. While having a buzzing social media account is great or using free web presence tools, it just doesn’t cut it with this picky bunch of B2B clients. So why would you need a professional B2B Website?
1. First Impressions
Whether you’re a 10-year-old business or a newcomer B2B startup, a website is the first interaction your B2B clients will have with your value proposition and services. Its design and overall professional appearance can make you look reputable or seem amateur, especially for internet facilitated businesses. It can trigger a vibe of confidence or discomfort to clients with clear accessibility, credibility and content visibility. So in a snippet, a professional B2B website is the ‘Orientation Class 101’ for your customers.
2. Opportunity and Growth
‘Great things always sell themselves’, bet you’ve heard that said occasionally. If you already have a thriving traditional B2B business, a website can create tremendous opportunity to grow while lowering costs and improving customer retention and satisfaction. A website is a marketing strategy on its own and a sales strategy. It has the ability to increase your ability to get opportunity too. It could be the silver bullet you need to grow the business, increase sales and reducing the complexity for customers to access you in the evolving marketplace.
3. SEO and Backlinks
Your business has to be easily discoverable on search engines and SEO is the only way. Search Engine Optimization is simply the way your website gets priority ranking and views on search engines. As part of SEO ranking, getting other quality sites to link back to you in form of backlinks is imperative. The more backlinks, the higher the ranking and if you have a poor on non-existent website, you’re chasing the wind. SEO is more or less internet currency, as it creates the most immediate credibility and trust for B2B businesses in comparison to B2C.
4. B2B E-Commerce
Professional B2B websites create a brilliant opportunity for you to apply e-commerce B2B applications and techniques. This basically means the ability to sell your products and services directly on your site. Necessitating clients to create accounts, B2B e-commerce application can involve automation of online payment, buyer registration, access to online catalogs, and online calculators. All these decision support tools can improve customer relations, operational efficiency, and lower costs. So a great website can help create an alternate business model for your business.
5. Mobile Apps
Are you considering later accommodating a mobile version of your B2B service using an app? An excellent website is always the foundation. Chances are that your clients will be more receptive to your mobile app later if your website is excellent. No one will download your app if your website sucks! Multiple surveys support that perspective. As an added plus, professional sites open the door for you seamlessly integrate a mobile app to your service offerings for clients. This allows a smooth mobile transition and allows you to test mobile models and strategies.
6. Virtual Customer Care
Chances are that when modern B2B clients have a query or complaint they’ll go to Google and look for your website first. So your professional B2B website is your first front desk and customer support resource. The place most customers will send queries, complaints or inquiries. It’s where they can find your customer support email, this can allow you easy damage control as compared to other alternatives. B2B clients are demanding and ‘needy’ and desire a lot of engagement and feedback.
Conclusion
In addition, you can have 24/7 access to client messages from your website programmed to go directly to your smartphone. Since most B2B sales involve educating customers about product and services