Three ways to make your website pop

Today is a digital age in the consumer market. About 40 percent of millennials research purchase on a smartphone. With the digital age comes a need for businesses to have a strong website and social media presence, as well as considering a mobile-friendly website design.

Kathleen Hegedus, industry marketing professional at Houzz.com, discussed this topic in detail during a session at LANDSCAPES. According to her, there are three areas of online branding that really help to set a business apart: storytelling, photography and community engagement.

“There is an expectation today that information is ready whenever someone wants it,” Hegedus said. “So you must have the information people need when they want it.”

She added that contractors need to brand themselves on their websites and tell their stories to appeal to the emotions of consumers. In addition, branding needs to be a multi-way conversation with the customer and vice versa. The following are some of Hegedus’ thoughts on storytelling, photography and community engagement and how these things can help contractors better market themselves on the web.

1. Storytelling: Hegedus recommended landscape contractors create a personal touch and tell their story with their website and social media pages. She said it’s not a bad idea to answer customer’s most frequent questions when putting together an “about me” page on a website or sharing the company story on social media. However, when sharing the company story, Hegedus said to keep it consistent across platforms.
2. Photography: According to Hegedus, “photos aren’t just photos,” rather they show the level of expertise a contractor has and the feel customers will get from their work. She recommended contractors only post photos of the work they are the most passionate about. “Don’t post the projects you don’t want to do or else someone will see those, like those and call you for the jobs you don’t want to do,” she said. “Get the best high-quality images, post those and showcase your work in the best way.” Last, she said contractors should be strategic where they place photos on a website or profile. People tend to see images at the top of pages more, so she said contractors should put things they want people to see the most on top of a page or profile.
3. Community engagement: Engage with customers online to build the brand. This impresses customers and prospective customers who are checking a contractor out on the web. With reviews, always respond to the positive and negative reviews. She added it’s also a good idea to request some customers provide a review on their website or on a contractor’s Houzz profile.