Thought Bubble - Rubbish Agency Websites

VIDEO: 6:28 mins

AUTHOR: Robert Craven

We all know that you can create awesome websites for your clients, but how about your own? Most digital marketing agencies are too busy working on client work that they forget to update their own sites... but if you have a crappy looking site, how will you attract new customers? It might be time to spend some time on you!

Transcription:

Robert Craven  00:07 

I hate my job sometimes I hate being a smartass, if that makes sense. Preparing lighting smart off. Today, I was asked to review website. 

Robert Craven  00:26 

As you can see, I'm a bit stuck on it, it was, it was shocking. And the reason I'm sharing this with you is not because I'm proud about being a smartass. But I just kind of want to share it with you because I have a feeling that even if 100% of it isn't about your website, at least 25 or 50% of it is about your website.  

Robert Craven  00:49 

So, for, for a start, we did a survey on websites about a year ago. And we're intrigued at the number of errors and pitfalls, even really beautifully designed websites had made in terms of the absolute basics. And I guess let me explain the feedback I gave back to this agency, the website. I arrived at the website.  

Robert Craven  01:11 

My first question is, is this website for me? There's nothing to indicate who the website is for so usual, we work with small businesses, large businesses, government organisations and not for profits piece. Very, very useful. Please, please, please. Second thing is I couldn't actually work out what the hell they did. We are a digital marketing agency, the Cutting-Edge platform oriented solutions based Grivel you know, who uses this language? Is this the language that your clients use up the language that they we are platform agnostic, you know, it's just, it's just mind numbing 30.  

Robert Craven  01:58 

Fantastic furniture, the team, here we are at our offices, we are a friendly team, we have a dog here is a picture of us. You know, if you do a word count on the word, we on the on the homepage is just unbelievable. It's clearly the most common word that's there. Nowhere do they mention the client or our clients. Nowhere do they have a Client Testimonial or client results. Nowhere do they talk about client benefits. Nowhere do they talk about overt business benefits. Nowhere do they talk about a quantifiable valuable value proposition now let me just explain what some of these things are. Just in case you don't know. I'm sure you do. I'm sure I'm sure you do. 

Robert Craven  02:57 

 But just in case you don't know over business benefit. If you buy from us, you will get X percent increase in turnover revenue, return on investment, whatever it is, but a number people like numbers not just a value proposition. If you come to us, we'll give you that but a value proposition so a proposition this is what we give these people facing this problem and how we solve it but also putting some value into that. You know, again, same thing numbers, please numbers, please. No, do they talk about their dramatic differences? What makes us different from the rest is we're the only people in town. We're the first in town. We are the oldest with our smartest with the fastest with the brightest. Just that drivel about we do what everyone else does, but we're a little cheaper. 

Robert Craven  03:53 

 I mean, it really is not. It's not great. And a real reason to believe you can deliver testimonials video testimonials. Yeah, numbers, case studies. You know, so you look at the website and of course, cardinal sin number 52, the stock images that you see bloody everywhere, you know people in the office, looking over the computer, someone's standing up at the whiteboard, a picture of a graph going up you know really it is it is mind numbing, it is like this website was designed by AI not this website had out sort of thought about who our customer is. 

Robert Craven  04:43 

 You know, I mean talk about customer is king or queen talking about new concept of what the customer experience is or who the customer is or what they're looking for or why they're doing. I hope it's not your website and I apologise if it's yours. My concern is that this your bloody website rant applies to nearly every agency website we look at some utterly unintelligible I think you think they're very clever, but they're unintelligible some look beautiful and the words are terrible.  

Robert Craven  05:21 

The point is the website's not for you. It's not you don't have to like the website, your clients do. And I worry that way too many agency websites. They don't invite people in, they do the very reverse you go, I don't know who they are. But if that's if that's their idea of marketing, and I want them to do the digital marketing for me, I think I'll look somewhere else. It's not good enough to say the shootings of cobblers have holes or whatever it is, were too busy to do the website.  

Robert Craven  05:53 

Yeah. You know, that stuff. You talk this stuff to clients when you're trying to sell and into digital marketing, you know, it is the brochure. It is it is your voice it is your brand. And yet so many agencies will succeed in putting the blinds up and saying don't come here because clearly we don't understand what marketing is really about. I'll stop there. Thank you very much listening.