Q. We're a financial management consulting firm, wondering how much to spend on our website. Is having a great website that important?

A.

• It's professional hygiene to have a good website but it’s also an opportunity to build your brand. Your website should provide a sense of consistency across all of your communication channels. This gives your customers clarity around who you are and what your are capable of providing.
   
• Determine where your website features in the customer journey and develop a purpose or call to action with this in mind. Your purpose should be clear and consistent and needs to be featured front and centre on your website.
   
• Get video on your site. You’ll be 53 times more likely to feature on the front page of Google and it’s a great way to bring your value proposition to life.
   
• Avoid being pinged by Google and mobile optimise your site. Consider templates from a service like Squarespace. They’re easy to build and effective.
   
• Focus your efforts on conversion, not just generating lots of traffic. Give visitors a process that's easy to follow and avoid giving them a reason to say no. Try showing profiles of your team members, case studies, and frequently asked questions to give customers all the information they need up front.
   
• Acquisition extends to more than just customers. Young potential talent who are used to seeing a good digital presence will get turned away from a poor website.
   
• When deliberating on your overall web spend, you should ask yourself three questions. Firstly, what is one customer’s lifetime value? The higher the value the higher the spend might be. Secondly, what is the cost for acquiring talent? Can a more advanced website shrink the cost or risks associated with this. And finally, considering the first two questions, what can you gain from developing a more advanced website. If all answers point to a sophisticated website you may need to up your overall spend.
   
• Work out how you implement lead capture – the better you can do that, the better you can follow-up in the long-term

Featured strategists are:

David Siegel - Strategist, Step Change
Robert Montgomery - Head of Economics & Policy, Infrastructure Partnerships

About Stump the Strategist:

• Questions from the floor, answered live in nine minutes
• It's opinion, not advice
• Step Change charges clients for advice, Stump the Strategist is free

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