Did you know that over 60% of internet users polled said they would be less likely to purchase from a company (online or offline) if they were dissatisfied with that company’s website? With over 19 million internet users in Canada, you can’t afford to treat your website as anything less than a top priority in your communication strategy. So what does your website say about you? Here are a few considerations to help you find out:

Do you have a Website?
If not, this should be your first priority. Most consumers won’t even consider working with you if you don’t have a website. They rely on it to qualify and compare you against your competitors. The majority of consumers will browse for companies online at their leisure which is preferable to having to call each company individually. Factors such as office hours and immediate availability of someone who can answer their questions are why people tend to go online first. You must also consider your employee’s time that is taken up by this consumer. Personal service can be important, but not at the cost of convenience to the customer. If you don’t have a website, now is the time.

When was your Website designed?
You might say that you already have a website set up. Like any technology, your website wasn’t made to last forever. We would never recommend that you redo your website every year, but as design and technology trends evolve, your website should too. The average internet user, including you, can tell the difference between a site developed recently and a site developed a few years ago. If you have an obviously outdated website, even one that has regularly maintained content, it tells consumers that you don’t value your online presence. If a consumer is searching for you online, this could mean the difference between them looking around your site to learn more about you, or them leaving immediately after looking at your home page.

Does your Website respond to current technology expectations?
You don’t need to develop custom quoting, online payment and certificate issuance engines, or operate a dedicated online social community in order to do this. However, internet users do have certain expectations of the websites they use, and these expectations are not industry specific. They want to be able to interact with your website. This could be as simple as including an online quote request form (AKA has 20 of them for the use of its clients), or policy change and claim forms for afterhours client convenience (AKA also has these for use of its clients).

You can expand your online offerings as it becomes a larger part of the way you do business. Most internet users use some form of a social networking site, but that doesn’t mean you have to manage a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a blog (and I certainly wouldn’t recommend taking on all that at once). But you can include simple social networking tools on your site to allow users to share a link to your site through their own social networking accounts, as well as through email. This is a small gesture that can make a big difference to a user’s perception of you.

Included within our Content Management System is the option to integrate a blog directly into your website. This tool has an easy to use interface that will allow you to easily share information you find informative with your clients, as well as share your own information and establish a reputation for your brokerage as an industry expert. Incorporating a blog into your website helps you gain higher search engine rankings, helps you gain an insight to your customers through their comments, and provides a quick and easy way to provide your clients with new information.

When was your site last updated?
When was the last time you updated the content on your website? When was your last news story posted? Many websites update their website infrequently (i.e. the last news post is from 2008). This tells your visitors that you don’t keep your site updated regularly, and that makes people question whether they can rely on the information being provided. Even posting one news item each season can help users feel more confident in your site. If that’s still too much, keep your news items general and don’t date them. You can also include dynamically generated content so that even people who go to your site regularly can be exposed to new information. AKA Broker’s Premium Website Package allows you to quickly and easily update content and add news stories through the use of our Content Management System. Your site will never be out of date again!

Want to know more?
AKA Broker’s Premium Website Package makes it easy to keep your site current, and is designed to evolve with you so that you don’t get left behind. To learn more and request a quote, contact AKA Broker.