November 19, 2018
StoragePug is a modern marketing company for self storage. We create intelligent marketing websites that allow you to rent units & take payments through your facility’s website.
We all know the concept of curb appeal, right? If your house looks nice from the curb, it’s more likely to attract buyers, and you may even get a higher price for it. It's the beginning of your customer's journey.
These days, though, curb appeal has expanded to inside-out appeal, with every part of a house needing to look up-to-snuff to get that higher bid.
Very interesting, but you may be wondering: what does this have to do with storage facilities?
Let’s talk about that.
You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression when someone visits your website.
The same way that a house needs good “curb appeal,” i.e., looking good from the outside, so does your website.
The look and feel of a website convey to its users the look and feel of the company. So ask yourself: what is your website conveying?
As much as we like to think that we don’t judge a book by its cover, the very opposite is true. If your website looks modern and inviting, visitors to your website will assume that you also have a modern and friendly facility.
If your website looks terrible when used on a mobile phone, those same visitors will probably get the impression that your facility is a bit outdated, and you aren’t tech-friendly.
A potential client won't take the time to view every page of your website and see the awesome deals you have to offer. They take a quick glance and pass their judgment.
How quick, you ask? About half a second!
Ouch.
If you make it past the first impression test, congrats! Now you get… more tests.
The truth is, people are inundated and oversaturated with content on the internet. Their overstimulation means that every piece of your website needs to fit together like one of those satisfying color-gradient puzzles.
You need everything on your website to be easy to find and in a logical place.
Do put the things your potential customers are most likely looking for – address, phone number, login, and so on – on the front page.
Don’t put your company history on the front page, put it on an “About Us” page so that people can read it if they want to.
Try to see the website from your customers’ point of view, and design it with them in mind.
If you have been in any way resistant to adopting new technology into your business, try and understand that every industry has been touched, improved, and even revolutionized due to technology.
Investing in updating your website is just as important as other upkeep you invest in.
The first way you can embrace technology to improve your business is to make sure your website is optimized and ready for mobile phones and tablets as well as desktops and laptops.
Over half of web traffic is happening on mobile devices – and whichever way you slice that statistic, that’s a lot of potential customers you’re more likely to lose out on because your website looks awful and it hard to use on their phone.
The second way is automation.
Customers expect to be able to do a lot more online as opposed to in-person – from viewing the property to booking.
If they love your website and everything is easy to find, it won’t take them long to make their way over to the “Rent Unit” button.
You’ll also benefit massively from allowing them to manage their unit online.
By setting up a payment portal and letting customers pay online, you’ll become an integrated part of their life, instead of yet another thing they need to think about and deal with.
By treating your website like a house you’re trying to sell, you can start to get an insight into what your potential customers are looking for and start incorporating them into your site.
Top priorities are the look and feel of the design, functionality of the layout, and tech-friendly processes like rental and management.
So what are you waiting for?
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