Co-founder and head of strategy and content at Flo, marketing provider for the kitchen and bathroom industry, Mike Thomas says if a website isn’t generating leads your business could be in trouble

As we head into a new decade, your online presence is now more important than ever. If you want to kick on and grow, then it’s arguably the biggest catalyst to doing that.

The truth is your website will make or break your business over the next few years.

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As time moves on, more and more people from every generation are becoming more tech savvy.

They demand and expect much more than they used to.

Surfing showrooms

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past five years, you’ll have noticed a big shift in the way people buy their kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms.

Once upon a time, the process of buying a kitchen started with the inception of the idea and a car ride to the local kitchen showroom.

Once at the showroom, a conversation would have been had, a design would have been created, and shortly afterwards a decision would have been made.

Whether for good or for bad, things have undeniably changed, and the difference between now and then is choice.

People now have more choice than ever before. They’re now used to having choice, and they demand choice.

The seismic shift that is happening in the KBB industry is this: People are no longer heading straight to a showroom to look at new interiors.

They are doing it in their living rooms, on an iPad. Yesterday’s ‘trudging around five showrooms on a Saturday’ is today’s ‘surfing the web’.

Your prospects now have the tools at their fingertips to be able to find out exactly what they want from the comfort of their own living room – before even setting foot in a showroom.

They decide what kitchen or interior they want, and once they’ve agreed on a style, they create a shortlist of companies they trust to reach their desired solution.

If your website isn’t converting visitors into hard enquiries (whether webform submissions or telephone calls), then you’re in real trouble.

If you think of your prospect sitting at home in their armchair comparing your website against your competitors, who are they going to choose?

If it’s your competitor’s site 90% of the time, then you have an issue that needs resolving.

FACT: The retailers with the best websites get the most customers.

Web returns

We’re blessed to work in an industry with high sales values and healthy margins.

For example, if we take a kitchen business that makes an average sale of £10,000 and takes a 30% margin, it’s only going to take two customers to be able to cover the cost of a new website, and three customers if you want to splash out.

And, to stay with that example, if your new website converts an extra five visitors a month into web enquiries, that may mean another kitchen sale, adding £3,000 profit to your bottom line every month and £36,000 annually, all for an approximate £3,000 outlay on a new website.

In summary, if you’ve been thinking that your online presence doesn’t cut the mustard for a while now, then now’s the time to do something about it.

Read more and find out the best ways to publicise your website.