It’s one of the first names that spring to mind when someone mentions conservatories, but that doesn’t mean CR Smith is necessarily the best at everything.
If you’ve ever dreamed of being as successful as CR Smith, whilst struggling to generate a steady stream of leads and sales for your business, I’m going to tell you right now that it might not be as hard as you think.
I’ve had a good look at the CR Smith website from a purely inbound perspective, and there’s a few things I’m sure you can do better – if you only knew how.
The good news is, I’ve done all the hard work for you.
That’s why in this blog post, I’m going to tell you how you can optimise your website to sell more conservatories than CR Smith.
1. Talk about the customer – not about yourself
Customers will arrive onto your site at ALL stages of their buying journeys – from the initial research stage, all the way up to when they’re finally ready to make a decision. However, CR Smith’s website doesn’t really reflect this the way it should.
When I clicked on their homepage, I saw a lot of information about offers and about how experienced the company is, but not a lot for those people who maybe aren’t even sure if a conservatory is right for them. Most potential customers in the research phase will have questions, which brings me to my next point.
2. Have a blog to answer their questions
Who doesn’t have a blog these days? Shame on you, CR Smith. A blog is probably your most effective tool when it comes to inbound marketing, but having one is just half the battle. Sit down with your team and think about all the frequent questions, concerns and pain points your customers experience or ask you about on a regular basis. Now, write the content around that – your customers will thank you for it. I’d recommend blogging – and sharing your content on social media – at least twice per week to get decent results.
TIP: You can also check out my blog, ’11 Questions Every Conservatory Company Should Answer on Their Website’.
3. Make it user-friendly
CR Smith clearly has a well-designed site, filled with stunning photos that showcase the very best of their conservatories. However, from an inbound perspective, there’s not a lot of flow to it, which makes it confusing as customers don’t always know where they should go or what they should be looking at. This, combined with the offers and self-promotion dotted around everywhere, can make it a bit of a frustrating user experience.
When it comes to the design aspect of your website, always think of it from a customer’s point of view. Ask yourself: ‘How will someone looking at this for the first time be able to find what they want?’ By making things as clear as possible, you’ll be more likely to have users stick around on your website – or even become repeat visitors while they work out what they really want.
4. Fill space with content customers will find useful
“Oh look, I’ve got a bit of extra space on my homepage… I know! Let’s fill it with self-promotion!” — It might not have been the exact process going through the minds of whoever is responsible for CR Smith’s site when they decided to place a link to their TV ads on the homepage, but the result is the same.
Instead of making this mistake, link to content users will find useful – how about a call-to-action (CTA) for ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Conservatory Types’ or ‘The Homeowner’s Conservatory Building Checklist’. Clicking could take them to a landing page where they can fill out their name and email address before downloading your well-written guide – you get a lead, and they get helpful information, and everybody’s happy.
5. Make your CTAs clear
Talking of CTAs, you need to make yours absolutely clear, so that the customer will know exactly what it is you’re offering. CR Smith has one which simply says ‘Order your free CR Homes magazine’ – what is it exactly? It sounds like a magazine about conservatories – which could be interesting – but when you click through to the landing page, it then becomes clear it’s actually a catalogue. This may only be useful for customers who are lower down in their buyer’s journey, so this is the point they might just click away, having wasted their time.
TIP: Want to know more about how you can use inbound to sell more conservatories? I’ve written a blog especially for you.
Conclusion
CR Smith is undoubtedly one of the biggest conservatory giants in the UK – they’re literally a household name. But my investigation on their website just goes to show that even companies with a huge success rate can make errors when it comes to their website. If you follow my above tips to optimise your website, then in theory there’s no reason why you won’t be able to sell more conservatories than CR Smith – so why not give it a try?