Should accountants talk to their clients about their website? We get it, you’re not marketers, you’re not designers, you’re not web experts – so why should you talk to clients about their website? Poorly performing websites can be like a handbrake for the financial performance of a business and if you really want your client to succeed financially, an effective website is an important piece of the puzzle.
How do I know if a client’s website isn’t performing? Isn’t design subjective?
Put colours, fonts and design aesthetic to the side initially. Website first impressions are important but start by focussing on things that can be easily measured and aren’t subjective. That’s the fastest way to check if something’s not right with their website. Here’s our 5 point website health check as a starting point.
1 ) Is their business showing at the top of page one for their business name?
This is obvious right? While most businesses show up in Google for all sorts of searches, some websites struggle to even show up for the company name. This means that if someone refers a friend to that business, they won’t find them in Google.
2) Is their website mobile optimised?
Mobile website traffic is increasing and for many businesses this is now more than 30% of their total web traffic. If your client’s website isn’t mobile optimised it might be like pouring 30% of their web traffic down the drain. But it’s worse than that – now Google punishes websites that aren’t mobile optimised in Google search results. Check out our blog post on how to know how much mobile traffic a website is getting.
3) Are they getting any traffic?
Firstly, do they know how many visitors they’re getting? If the client is only getting a few visitors a day or less to their website, the website will be generating little or no business for them.
4) Are they getting any enquiries or sales from the website?
For businesses that list their phone number, many assume that the phone calls aren’t as a result of someone visiting the website. Get them to ask new clients how they found out about them. Email forms are a simpler way to track enquiries from the website than with phone numbers. If you’re getting a few email form enquiries from your website each week it’s safe to assume some of the calls are also as a result of the website.
5) Does it have the essentials?
Does it say what their business does? Does it have an about us page? Does it have some nice photos to add visual interest? Are contact details easy to find? Check out the Rocketspark roadmap to learn more about the essentials of an effective homepage.
You don’t need to be a website expert
Another reason you might be avoiding this topic is that you don’t feel like you know enough about websites to give solid advice. Don’t worry - you don’t have to be a web expert to at least get your client thinking about their website’s performance. Using the tools we’ve already shared above, you should be able to quickly get a feel for whether their website is on the rocks or actually doing ok with the basics.
Free review of client’s websites from Rocketspark
If you have some clients in mind that you think need some help with their website, feel free to get in touch with Rocketspark to see what we would recommend.
Join the Rocketspark advisor programme
If you don’t already have a Rocketspark advisor code, you can sign up at our website to get a discount for your clients when they sign up to Rocketspark and a little thank you from us.
