7 Critical Elements of a Funeral Home Website
May 23rd, 2012
Today, more than ever before, you need to be maximizing the online presence of your funeral home. The truth is, your families have very high expectations, and if your funeral home website doesn’t deliver, you better believe they’ll find one of your competitors whose website does.
In order for your funeral home website to be a valuable business asset, you better make sure it includes these 7 critical elements:
1. Socially Interactive Obituaries
The days of standard, static obituaries are gone. Today’s families want to share the life story of their loved one with family and friends. Go beyond the traditional obituary and online guestbook and offer your families a dedicated memorial website for their loved one that interacts with Facebook and Twitter. A social memorial website will allow family and friends to view the obituary, share personal memories, offer condolences and leave virtual gifts in honor of their loved one—all from your funeral home website.
2. Sympathy Gifts & Flowers
The more convenience you can offer your website visitors, the more likely it is that they will return. By integrating an eCommerce sympathy store into your funeral home website, you make it easier than ever for the community to support the emotional needs of your families. Now, they can send sympathy gifts and flowers from the same place they’re already going to read the obituary and sign the online guestbook. Your funeral home becomes a one-stop-shop!
3. Interactive Service Selection Tool
Your families’ expectations of a funeral service are changing. More than ever, they are looking for unique and personalized ways to celebrate the life lived. Your funeral home website must educate potential client families on the value of the services you provide. By including an interactive service selection tool, you give them the freedom to explore all the unique and memorable ways they can honor their loved one.
4. Grief and Healing Resources
One of the most important services you can provide your families is grief support. However, not all of your families are going to feel comfortable coming to you and asking for guidance and support. By offering daily email affirmations or providing access to interactive grief videos on your funeral home website, you give your families the ability to manage their grief effectively from the comfort of their own home.
5. Proper Optimization for Search Engines
Your funeral home website can’t be successful if potential client families can’t find it. And today, it’s likely that when the need arises, the first place families go to find a funeral home is the Internet. With proper search engine optimization, your funeral home website will appear at the top of search results—every time!
6. Easy-to-Use Pre-Planning Tools
Statistics show that almost 70% of adults would pre-plan their funeral service, if given the option. If your funeral home website doesn’t feature a pre-planning tool that makes it easy for families to arrange their funeral service online, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to not only attract new families, but increase revenue.
7. Visually Engaging Photos & Videos
In today’s digital age, your website is often the first impression your funeral home makes on a potential client family. In order for your firm to connect with those families, your website must speak to them on a personal and emotional level. With visually engaging photos and videos, you can provide them comfort by showing them how to celebrate the life that was lived.
Maximize the online presence of your funeral home with the f1Connect Website Platform. f1Connect is the first all-in-one website solution built from the ground up for the families you serve. Click here to learn more!
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