As digital technology advances at an unprecedented rate, businesses with an established online presence will no doubt look to devise a long-term strategy to achieve digital transformation. The digital marketing industry is bolstered by a constant stream of newly emerging trends, such as artificial intelligence, voice search and data analytics. As these technologies offer a multitude of applications, they can also be adapted for websites.
What is a progressive website?
A progressive website is one that actively develops, maintains, and upgrades infrastructure, user functionality and cosmetic design to attract customers, increase conversions and maintain a positive return on investment (ROI). The website should adopt contemporary standards of technology and pay heed to external factors that command change, such as data privacy legislation and search engine algorithms.
The key to digital transformation is that the cycle of change, improvement and innovation is continuous which creates a demand for evergreen content and timeless designs, resistant against short-lived trends. A modern website with relevant content and imagery geared around contemporary talking points and issues is likely to encourage user engagement and relatability.
A balanced approach between investment in essential technology, such as a live chat facility or integrated CRM system, and low-cost and low maintenance methods to drive traffic, such as content marketing or social media advertising can add abundant user value, stimulate conversions, and lengthen the lifespan of the website.
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How vital is a progressive website for SMEs?
As the standards of digital technology progress, this raises user expectations, and therefore the benchmark for businesses.
A progressive website should have the functionality to track conversions, lead sources and identify any hurdles throughout the customer journey. This information can then be used to refine the user experience, optimise conversion rates, and increase conversion value.
A conversion is classed as a goal achievement, for example, an enquiry form submission, product purchase or social media mention.
How can a progressive website support conversion?
Daily maintenance, a modest investment in the right technology and a progressive website can help small businesses compete against industry players. Small-to-medium businesses with even a minimal pool of cash earmarked for digital marketing can build a progressive website with their core investment assigned for technical support.
Regular maintenance is the first instruction in the digital rulebook to build a progressive website, as a website with even minor issues, such as call to actions that are non-performing, unresponsive pages and out-of-date content could deter conversions and increase bounce rates.
For example, a local specialist with reams of unique, SEO-friendly content that is built upon regularly and updated over time, however, supported by no advertising budget may attract record organic traffic. This can give them an upper hand over a competing firm with a larger share of the online marketplace.
To A/B test different areas of your website regularly can support the progression of your website, as if core pages are underperforming, you can revise the messaging and review their performance subsequently.
By taking an informed and data-driven approach to improve these pages, your website can operate as a strong lead generator and increase output. SMEs can use this approach to increase their search engine presence and take a step closer to achieving digital transformation.
- This article originally appeared here.