Perception is reality, now more than ever. This is especially true when you’re selling a business – first impressions can make or break you. And these days, where do most people form their first impressions about a business?
From the web, of course. They do a Google search or maybe go directly to your company’s URL. But it’s not just consumers who do this; potential investors do it, too.
Getting Your Business ‘House’ In Order
Selling a business and selling a house are similar in a lot of ways -- and most people would never let people tour their home without making some cosmetic changes before offering it for sale. It’s the same for your business. You will want to get it in the best possible shape to achieve the highest sale price and eliminate issues that will allow the buyer to negotiate the price downwards.
Part of getting your business in shape is to attend to your website. Web design is quickly evolving and you want to make sure that you’re providing the best experience for your website visitors, whether it’s potential customers, current customers, or potential investors.
How Do You Get Your Website in Shape?
Although your website is intangible, it can add to the value of your business. Let’s look at six key elements that can help your website make a good first impression.
- Use Minimalistic, User-friendly Design – Audiences today are impatient; they expect an easily accessible experience when searching the web. It’s critical to have a site that is user-friendly and provides a visually pleasing experience. Long sections of text are a thing of the past. A modern design should include an effective use of space that’s not cluttered, easily readable fonts, and high-resolution, enticing images. You only have a few seconds to grab a user’s attention. Make it worth their time.
- Employ Responsive Design – It’s very important to make sure the images are responsive— that means they’ll change in size depending on the user’s resolution and screen size. This gives users the same experience no matter how they’re accessing the site. More people are now accessing the web via their mobile devices than from their desktop, so you need to have a site that is both mobile friendly and desktop friendly, or they might go elsewhere.
- Utilize Images – It’s becoming the norm to use large, high-resolution images to help tell the story of your brand. They’re often set as the backdrop of the site with a small amount of text over it. It’s been proven time and time again that people like to look at images. Take advantage of this to tell your story.
- Employ Calls to Action and Offers – “Calls to Action” include contact info requests, as well as buttons that allow users to “buy now,” “download now,” or “request a quote.” Your website should clearly guide potential customers to the next step to find more information and to buy your product or service.
- Keep it Fresh and Updated – Too often, businesses engage in a large website overhaul, spending a lot of time and money on it, only to let it sit there stagnating. Today, your potential customers are expecting to find the information they need, when they need it. If they can’t find it, they’ll move on. Make sure that all of your company information is up to date, including things such as management team bios, case studies, and key milestones.
- Make Regular Content Updates – If you haven’t added new videos or blog posts to your site for a number of years, do it now and then develop a schedule for future updates. Providing useful, valuable information (not just advertisements for your products or services) is a great way to keep people engaged and on the site. Regular updates will also increase your search engine optimization (SEO) as the search engines’ algorithms, especially Google, rank fresh, well-written content higher in searches.
While this is by no means an exhaustive list for getting your website in shape, it can help set you on the right path. Now is the perfect time to get everything in order. Give your business a fresh coat of paint – both literally and figuratively -- to put it in the best light for potential buyers. Sellers pay top dollar for high quality.
You only have one chance to make a good first impression, so don’t waste it!
