Your website has less than 5 seconds to make an impression. If you aren't making the case for visitors to stay and see what you are all about, you can bet your ass they are leaving.

Here's an easy way to tell whether your visitors have a positive impression of you after visiting your site: Do they call you or fill out your contact form after they have been to your website? If not, it's because they aren't staying around long enough to get engaged with your message.

Here are the 2 things your website MUST do for your visitors in the first 5 seconds of a visit.

1. Tell the customer 3 things:
   • Who you are
   • What you do - not the 30 second elevator pitch, but the 5 word signature line. What exactly is it that you want to do for this visitor?
   • Why they should care - How will you make this visitor's life better?
     
     
2. Visually convey professionalism and expertise - Potential customers will judge your business based on the feeling they get when they first look at your website. They will do this before they even read a word. As a matter of fact, if your website is a hot mess they won't even bother to read a word. Your website must look professional, clean, and intentional if you expect it to do anything for you.
   
   This doesn't always mean you have to get a professional web designer or graphic designer involved (although I would recommend it if you can.) Here are some ways to ensure your website looks good even if you don't have a professional helping you:
   • Use a template website builder like Wix or Weebly. Choose a template from their professionally designed selection, and stick to the choices the template designer has made.
   • Keep your homepage super clean and simple. More is NOT better on websites. There is always a temptation to pack a page with information because the space it there. However, overwhelm does not lead to a positive experience.
   • In keeping with the tip above - if you overwhelm your visitor with choices, they will do nothing. Better to give them one or two choices based on what you would like them to do next (example: contact us, or schedule an appointment.) Make those choice clear by putting them in a button or graphic.

Did you notice the website image at the beginning of this article? I created that website in about 15 seconds using a Weebly template. Even though it only took 15 seconds it's a good website. If you needed your eyebrows done, and you saw that website, you would give them a try. And it empowers you to schedule your appointment. This is what you want. Maybe your website doesn't need a flirty lady blowing a kiss, but you get the point.

So clean it up and make it clear. Need help? You know I'm here for you. Schedule a free call with me and let's talk.

Thanks for spending time with me today. Don't forget to like and share this article with other small business owners. It will help them and make you look like a genius!

The business 

• SkinPro Studio is a Charleston, SC spa specializing in three things
• soothing facials for cancer patients, and pregnant women. 
• lasting beautification treatments.
• and education for skincare professionals.

 
Timing
The site was developed in 3 weeks during March 2016.
 
The requirements
The site needed to be:

• beautiful and professional.
• integrated with MindBody, a leading spa management software.
• easy to use.
• a clear voice telling SkinPro studio's story of healing, philanthropy, and education.
• quickly and simply kept up to date by the site owner.

 
The technology

• Weebly website builder
• MindBody and Healcodes spa software integrated into the Weebly website

We created a site that tells the story of SkinPro Studio, and makes it easy for customers to do business with the spa.

With a beautiful custom header image.

And we integrated their MindBody scheduling software into the website in a way that looks seamless to customers. Customers can schedule appointments for themselves at the website. The appointments are saved into the spa's scheduling system, and the customer never leaves the SkinPro Studio website.
 
And here is what Liz Munn, owner of SkinPro Studio, had to say about working with us:
 
"Kelly developed my website for my new skincare business. I would highly recommend Kelly for any type of website design. She listened to what was important and provided exactly what I wanted. I find Kelly to be knowledgeable, timely, efficient, and effective in her approach. She is a pleasure to work."
 
Do you love the way this site turned out? Please like and share this post! Your likes and share help spread the word to other marketers and business owners just like you. And if they like it too, you will look smart and savvy for having helped them find it.
 
Would you like to talk about your site? Schedule a free website consultation today so we can get started.

It's a fact - new content on your website is good for lead generation. Studies show that the more often a company blogs, the more leads it gets through the website. And according to HubSpot, the smaller the company the larger the benefit in terms of website traffic and leads generated.

So how often is often enough? And is there such a thing as too often?

The answer, in part, can be found in your audience. Business-to-consumer companies benefit more from blogging more often.

Increases from blogging 11+ times a month:
• B2B - 3 times more leads than similar companies posting 4-5 times a month
• B2C - 4.5 times more leads than companies who only post 4-5 times a month

I wasn't able to find a number that could be considered TOO often, although I would suspect you have hit that number once quality begins to suffer. Quality content is King - junk content is always junk.

Can't blog 11 times a month? Do what you can. There are cumulative benefits to posting in your blog. Your posts live forever - they remain on your site where they help to increase your search rank and make your site more find-able by your customers.

For more information check out these quality articles on the same topic:
 - HubSpot: How Often Should Companies Blog?
 - Scripted: How often should you update your blog?

Need more? Schedule a free website evaluation with me. I would love to talk with you about your website, SEO, and online marketing strategy. And please like and share if you learned something - It helps the people you like get the useful information they need, and you will look like a rock star in the process!