Most funeral professionals vastly underestimate the power of their funeral home’s website.

Sure, your website is a convenient tool to share things like contact information, office hours and a quick overview of what you do. But more than that, your website has the power to attract families who have never heard of your funeral home, teach them the value of what you do, and even keep them coming back to you for advice and help when they’re not even in the funeral planning process.

But, before your website can do all of this, you first need to fill it with the basics that will speak to families and convince them why they should choose you over one of your competitors. Here are six essential things that every funeral home website should have in order to attract families and turn them into customers…

1. An Easy Way To Share Service Information

One of the most important pages on any funeral home website, if not THE most important pages, are the obituaries. Not only are these the most visited pages by far that people are clicking on when they come to your website, but they are also the most valuable resource for the families that you are serving. In fact, a great memorial page can be the difference between a easy planning process and a stressful one for the families you serve.

To help ensure that you are giving your families the most simple, yet valuable experience possible, make sure that you are giving them a simple way to share service information right from their loved one’s obituary page. For example, with f1Connect’s social memorial pages, families can share service information and obituary details right to their own Facebook page. This helps them share valuable information to their own network and community with just a click of a button, rather than making endless calls to relatives.

A great social memorial page is also extremely valuable for your funeral home, as it is brings networks and networks of new people back to your funeral home website to view service information and learn more about who you are.

2. Education On The Value Of What They’re Purchasing

Funeral professionals are quick to blame cremation and low-cost providers as the biggest sources of challenge in the funeral profession. (Just wait – we have an entire blog post coming out this topic later this month.) But the truth is, it’s not the providers or the low-cost services that they are offering that are killing traditional funerals. It’s the funeral profession’s lack of education on the value of these traditional services.

Today’s consumer does not have the same tradition-based or religious-based value that funeral consumers of the past may have had. They don’t care that they should have a funeral service because “that’s just what they do.” Therefore, when it comes to arranging a funeral, many automatically look to the cheapest option – because they don’t understand why it would be beneficial to them to go for anything else.

That’s where your expertise comes in. Your funeral website is the best place to educate families on what options are available to them, and why they should want to have these different services in the first place. Explain to them the value of seeing a loved one in person at funeral service; walk them through the healing power that comes with sharing stories and memories at a visitation. Once they understand the value of what they’re choosing, they will be far less likely to base their decision purely on price.

3. Reassurance That You Can Help Them

Consumers constantly want to be reassured that they are making the right purchasing decisions – especially when it comes to once-in-a-lifetime events like planning a funeral service. And one of the biggest sources they look to when seeking reassurance is your past customers.

Did you know that 88% of consumers say that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations? That means that if your website has positive testimonials or reviews left by previous families you have served, others will trust the great experience they had and the positive things they had to say about your brand as much as if they heard it directly from one of their friends. So don’t overlook the importance of testimonials and online reviews on your funeral website.

4. Resources That Help With Planning

Funeral planning is a stressful and overwhelming process, especially if you have never done it before. And even when families are able to sit down with you and discuss the details of what is involved, whether you’re pre-planning or arranging an immediate need service, it can be difficult for them to remember all of the important information they need to know.

To help make the funeral planning process easier (and to give prospective families reassurance that you are the one to make this process as seamless and simple as possible), it’s helpful to offer planning resources right on your website. For example, a pre-planning checklist, or an infographic that walks them step-by-step through what they can expect after a loved one passes away.

Having these invaluable resources on your website will also help families find your funeral home when searching for funeral resources online, as your website will pop up first when families search for things like, “How to pre-plan a funeral near me.”

5. Answers To Their Questions

Most funeral professionals assume that if families have questions about funeral pricing and planning, they will reach out to the funeral home directly to find their answers. But in today’s age, especially in service-based industries, consumers expect to find the answers to their questions online.

Think about the last time you booked a hotel, for instance. You most likely didn’t call the hotel to see what their rates were or to find out about the amenities that they offered. You probably went online, entered the dates you wanted to get a price estimate for, poked around their service pages, and then clicked off to another hotel’s website if you weren’t satisfied with what you found. Families shopping for funerals are the same way.

Families today want to be able to know as much as humanly possible about what you can offer them before they contact you about arranging a service. This is because they like to comparison shop. They want to know that they are getting the best value for their money, and know what products and services you can offer them, compared to others in town. Once they feel confident in what they find, then they will contact you for more information. And if they don’t find the answers to their questions at all? They will move on to another funeral home that can give them those answers.

6. Easy Ways To Support Their Loved Ones

The last group of people that are coming to your funeral home website aren’t necessarily there because they want to plan a funeral or they are looking for help making end-of-life decisions. They are there because they want to support a friend or loved one who has come to you to help plan a funeral service. These are people who want to express their love, sympathy and support, and are clicking through your website wondering what’s the best way to do that.

There are several ways your website can help people support their loved one during a loss. First and foremost, give them a place where they can celebrate their loved one’s life and share their sympathy, memories and heartfelt wishes. The best place to do this is typically on a loved one’s memorial page. With f1Connect’s social memorial pages, families can log in through Facebook, upload photos of their loved one, share stories, and even light a candle in their honor.

You can help take the support one step further by also offering people a convenient and easy way to send sympathy gifts and flowers to their loved one’s, all without leaving your funeral home’s website. The Sympathy Store is the perfect addition to any funeral home’s site, as it pulls service times, information and even addresses right from your obituary pages, to ensure that shoppers are always getting fresh, hand-delivered flowers (never in a box) on time for your services.

To learn more about how both f1Connect and The Sympathy Store can help you elevate your funeral home’s website and deliver a better experience to your families, click here to talk to one of our website success specialists.

Skip Willoughby

funeralOne

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