5 Out-Of-The-Box Ways To Leverage Your Funeral Home Website
June 11th, 2014
If your funeral home has a website, you already know how effective it is in generating leads and increasing your revenue.
But did you know that your website doesn’t just have to be a sales tool? Nope. In fact, a website that’s used for more than just generating new business will most likely perform better… seriously.
Don’t believe us? Check out these 5 out-of-the-box ways you can leverage your funeral home website and in no time you’ll be using your website to help your business in more ways than you can imagine:
1. Use your website to create user-generated content
One sure-fire way to establish trust on your website is through the use of user-generated content. User-generated content is defined as “media created by your peers”, and is usually written by non-professionals with no motivation but to provide their own opinion or voice. According to Mashable, user-generated content is 20% more influential (when making purchasing decisions) and 35% more memorable than other types of media.
To view this page live on Greenlawn’s website, click on the image.
Since more than 90% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchasing decision, why not include a page on your website that encourages families to write and submit reviews about your funeral home? Once families submit them, display them everywhere you can. Below, Greenlawn Funeral Homes uses their testimonials page to reinforce their families purchasing decisions and show families how valuable their services really are.
Some other ways you can include user-generated content on your website are:
– Use real images of your products and services in use on your website (ie. a photo of a dove release)
– Encourage your families to create video reviews on your funeral home
– Link to your funeral home’s social media profiles and encourage families to connect, share their experiences and learn from each other
2. Use your website to answer questions in an interactive way
Over the years, videos have proven themselves to be one of the best ways to engage visitors on your website. In fact, adding video makes your website six times more likely to convert a casual “browser” into a paying client. You know your families and community better than anyone else – you know their problems, questions and pain points – so make sure your videos are a helpful resource for them during the funeral arrangement process. In the end, your number one goal should be making sure your website visitors never leave your website with unanswered questions.
Schoedinger Funeral Home & Cremation makes great use of video on their website. They include videos on what to do when a death occurs, how to honor life, what types of funeral services they offer, and more.
To view this page live on Schoedinger’s website, click on the image.
Feeling inspired by Schoedinger’s comprehensive videos? The great news is you can easily add videos to your website, too. Here are a few ideas for videos to get you started:
3. Use your website to gain insights on your families
If you’re like most funeral professionals, there’s a good chance you have never bothered to look at your website’s analytics. However, your website’s analytics can provide you with some great insights on your families. Analytics can tell you how families find your website, where you rank on Google and other search engines, how families are browsing your website (ie. mobile, desktop, tablets), what pages they’re the most engaged with and even how you stack up to your competition. For more information on using Google Analytics to research your families, check out this article from KISSmetrics.
Here is an example of a Google Analytics dashboard used by marketers and companies everywhere.
Or, you can use Google Webmaster Tools to find out what keywords people are searching for when they get your website. Just by taking one quick look at the Google Webmaster Tools search queries data (below) , you can see the keywords people are using, how many times they’re searched for, and even where your website ranks when people type in those keywords. All of this data could spark some content ideas… and give you a lot of insights for your SEO efforts. Try it out on your own! Here’s a great article on how to get started with Google Webmaster Tools.
4. Use your website as your source of content
Sometimes it can be hard to find new content for your social media posts that your audience will love. But did you know your website can be the #1 source for finding valuable content to share? It’s true – and it’s why many smart marketers see their website as the foundation of all their content marketing. For example, you can use your Daily Email Affirmations as social media posts everyday. Or, you can share your blog posts or newsletters with your social media audience. Not only will this get more people reading your content, but you’ll naturally increase your website visits and open up more opportunities to turn your audience into customers. Talk about the best of both worlds!
5. Use your website to inspire families to celebrate life
More than ever, families are interested in celebrating their loved one’s life in a unique way, so make sure your site communicates how you can help them do just that.
As you can see below, Anderson McQueen Funeral Home uses a Life Exploration Tool to show families all the possibilities when it comes to celebrating a life. Their interactive tool allows families to scroll through all of the options – from the traditional to the completely personalized funerals.
To view this page live on Anderson McQueen’s website, click on the image.
And if you offer services unique to your funeral home, make sure you show them off so families know what you offer and why it’s valuable before they ever walk through your door. For example. Anderson McQueen knows they’re one of the few funeral homes in their area with an on-site crematory, flameless cremation options and pet services, so they feature each of them on their website.
To view this page live on Anderson McQueen’s website, click on the image.
LINK TO: To view this page live on Anderson McQueen’s website, click on the image.
Start leveraging your website today
As you can see, your website doesn’t just have to be a sales tool. You can use it to inspire families, answer their questions, and even get them to share their opinion and connect with each other. If you’re looking for other creative ways to start leveraging your website, get in touch with one of our website specialists today by clicking here or giving us a call at 800-798-2575, ext. 5
How else does your funeral home creatively use your website? Tell us in the comments below!
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