Ready to give your website a facelift? New strategies can help add some new life to your site and can result in new sales opportunities. So what new strategy should you employ? I have one word for you: Video.
One thing I know is that most small business people are far too busy running their businesses to be what folks in the tech world call “early adopters.” And of course that is understandable. Entrepreneurs tend to wear a lot of hats – CEO, VP of Marketing, Head of Accounting, and so on – so it makes sense that they don’t want to add “Chief Innovation Officer” to the list.
…more than half of all small businesses still don’t have a website…
But not being an early adopter should not be the same as being a late adopter, and unfortunately, many small business owners are just that. Indeed, according to a report I recently saw from Google, more than half of all small businesses still don’t have a website. Consider these amazing statistics:
- In California, 62% of businesses have no website
- In Virginia, 45% have no website
- In Kentucky, 71% have no website
Huh?
That is pretty shocking. How these folks stay in business being that far behind the times is beyond me.
One thing I know is that the best small business owners fall somewhere in the middle. Too busy to jump on the bandwagon early but too savvy to jump on late, the smart entrepreneur knows that, sooner or later, he or she will need to stay up with the ever-changing small business world.
And that then brings us to our one word, video.
That we are in the age of online video is no secret:
- More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month
- Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
- 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
So here’s the deal: People like watching videos online, and that is the first of several reasons why adding video to your website and social media pages really should be part of your plan these days. Other reasons include:
It’s uninterrupted: How often do you get someone’s time online for three to five minutes, uninterrupted? Right, rarely. But that is exactly what you can accomplish with having videos as part of your marketing mix. Having someone interact with your business for that long online is really a rarity and one that should not be overlooked.
It’s affordable: In this YouTube age, no one is expecting that your videos be highly produced, expensive showpieces. Indeed, you can easily create some videos, stick them on your website, and it should not cost you much at all. Introduce your crew, or make some how-to videos, or demonstrate some products or whatever, just know that videos are cheap and easy to create these days.
It’s personal: Web and social media sites, despite your best efforts, can be so impersonal. But a video that you create about your business is the sort of friendly, personal touch that can warm things up and forge a connection.
So what are you waiting for? Video – it’s the answer.
