It's a fact: nowadays, a website is essential for attracting traffic and ensuring the long-term viability of your business. However, many questions remain regarding its effectiveness, the essential elements for its success, the budgets required, etc.
In this article, we have therefore sought to dispel the main preconceptions about websites, with explanations to match!
1- For my industrial business, a showcase website is all I need!
FALSE – This comes as no surprise... Admittedly, a showcase website requires less investment, but it's still not enough to make you stand out from the crowd!
89% of B2B decision-makers conduct their purchasing research online, so a showcase website is not enough to convince them!
Why?
Because a showcase website attracts few visitors and, above all, does not convert your prospects. It is simply a source of information, but does not allow you to optimize SEO, generate leads, provide premium content, or generate calls to action, landing pages... In short, everything that is essential for a website that is well positioned on Google and ROI !
2- Design is the central element of my website.
TRUE/FALSE – Of course, design is one of the key elements for the success of your website.
When the design is modern, attractive, and transports visitors into a whole new world, it has a positive impact on the perception of the company.
When your prospect opens your website, it will only take them a few seconds to decide whether or not to continue browsing. It is essential to have a smooth, attractive, and consistent website.
This benefits both the image of the website and that of your company, and helps you stay in people's minds. An outdated website that is visually unappealing will not inspire confidence and your credibility will suffer.
However, design should not be your sole or primary concern! It is not enough to build a "high-performing" website.
Other criteria clearly need to be taken into account: feeding the website with an SEO or SEA strategy and optimizing it with the addition of landing pages or call-to-action buttons, for example. And yes, ultimately, focusing on design before anything else is like worrying about the color of the curtains when you haven't even started laying the foundations of the house 😄
3- My website has no impact on my company's image.
FALSE – As explained above, it only takes a few seconds on your website for your prospect to form an impression of your company.
But yes, we're sure you know what we're talking about: imagine a website dating back to the 2000s, of poor quality, with pages that don't work, pixelated images, no value-added content... what image will you have of the company behind this site?
Bad, most likely!
And with good reason: the site's ergonomics, its customer-oriented content, its technical performance (page loading speed, etc.), and many other factors allow users to judge a company's credibility at first glance, as the website is a medium designed to inform visitors... A bit like the first impression you get when you meet someone new, in fact 😉
Don't forget that (normally, otherwise there's a problem) the vast majority of people who come across your website don't actually know you! It's the first impression they'll have of you, your reliability, and your professionalism—important factors that make it essential to put your all into your website!
4- SEO is essential for increasing my traffic
TRUE – Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, aims to rank you as high as possible in search engines for multiple queries related to your business and that of your targets.
The goal?
To ensure that your audience finds you first when they search. After all, a website that ranks first on Google attracts much more traffic than one on the third page! (In fact, it's commonly said in our industry that there's no better place to hide a dead body than on the third page of Google... ☠️)
More and more companies are realizing the importance of SEO strategies and are starting to optimize their websites. As proof, today, 45% of large companies and 20% of SMEs/mid-cap companies spend more than €15,000 per month on SEO.
As a reminder, very few users go beyond the first page of Google search results when looking for a service provider, products, or something they need. Google effectively prioritizes reliable, well-referenced sites that match the user's needs. To be credible and appear at the top of Google's search results, you absolutely must implement an SEO strategy, using relevant keywords and feeding your site with value-added content.
5- My website is just for show; it won't bring me any prospects or candidates!
FALSE – Often, you only see the expense side of your website, but profitability is there if you work at it...
Your website will initially attract visitors. If your search engine optimization (SEO-SEA) work is done correctly, it will bring you qualified traffic, prospects, and candidates. Once you have attracted visitors, this new qualified traffic will be converted into incoming requests!
Secondly, it guarantees you a high-quality image, which is essential for your employer brand! Thanks to the content you put on your site, as well as its structure and aesthetics, you will not only generate a positive image among prospects, but you will also succeed in convincing many candidates!
Finally, your website can clearly generate income for you, particularly through advertising, sponsorship, or simply an online store page.
At MITI, our primary concern is to make you visible and attractive on the web. Please don't hesitate to contact us for any further information!
