Managed service providers (MSPs) often find themselves at a crossroads at some point in the company’s growth trajectory.
Sure, they have amassed clients along the way but gaining new ones appears more challenging than ever. This is the point where they must look inward rather than outward, especially the company website. Most MSP websites include a laundry list of systems and services offered by the firm. But consider this for a second – do you want your website to feel like a services catalog or something your clients actually care about? To unlock the full potential of your business, you need to convert your website into a lead generator.
MSP Owners Should Take the Reins: Here’s Why
Now, before you rush off to find an organization specializing in MSP website templates, keep a few things in mind:
First, those services are canned and outdated, serving hundreds of other IT companies worldwide.
Second, they tack on numerous add-ons and features that most MSPs believe they need but rarely use.
Third, if you are unlucky, the rote content they provide may get your ‘new’ website penalized by Google.
These companies usually create five to ten website templates and a few hundred blog posts with the sole intention of selling multiple copies fast and cheap.
In addition, you end up with a page that resembles any of the thousand other run-of-the-mill MSP companies online. You can forget about updates to your site or indexing and ranking in the search engines.
Imagine spending hundreds or thousands of company dollars on a website that is not built to convert or remotely interesting to read and interact with! That money would have been better spent on developing a custom website that is current and responsive. And that is precisely what you will be doing.
Do SEO, Don’t Overdo SEO
List all the topics relevant to your intended audience and use specific long-tail keywords. Consider this the problem you want customers to bring to your attention so you can solve them.
Conduct your own search for other keywords and pay attention to user intent. Find out what problems they have and which ones you’re able to solve. The more you solve, the more credibility you will have in their eyes and Google’s
Research competitor keywords with tools like SpyFu and SEMrush. You may even visit the competition site and see what they’re promoting, how they are using headlines and phrasing, and what media they are using.
Include long-tail keywords selected for a certain page in the following places:
- Heading of the page (and subheadings, if there are any)
- URL of the page
- Title and Meta description tags
- Text of the page, especially it's top part
However, remember a couple of other things:
Do not keyword-stuff: Make sure the language used is natural-sounding to avoid the penalty by Google (and to be of real use for your clients, of course).
Don’t try to optimize different pages from your website for the same keyword: it doesn’t work. Select specific keywords for each page you are trying to optimize.
In this package, you will get five guides helping to create marketing strategies and tips on:
- Dealing with on-site SEO
- Creating web advertising properly
- Email chains for MSPs
- Content marketing for an MSP blog
- Social media marketing
Give a Callback Instead of Prices
This might sound like a bad practice on paper, but think about it for a second – your service pricing may vary from one client to another. Do you really want to lose out on the opportunity to earn more by establishing a fixed price structure on your website?
MSP website callbacks often bring big benefits to both customers and businesses. Rather than provide a quote right off the bat, callback service reduces abandonment rate, decreases handling times, and increases the first-contact resolution. Staff morale and customer satisfaction also increase as a result.
Simple callback tools are not reliant on costly equipment and hardware. This will make it easier for your MSP company to tap into the various benefits without the associated cost and headache.
Callbacks increase your reputation and garner brand loyalty. But devote sufficient resources so customers are not kept waiting on hold.
Develop a Clear Site Structure
Most MSPs lack awareness on how best to structure their website so it yields the best performance. The trick is to highlight what matters the most.
Telling a story instead of delivering a sales pitch makes it 22 times more memorable. Weave an engaging story to draw, direct, and hold the attention of website users. Validate your story with projects and companies that show success, and include long-form case studies discussing how you solve certain problems for clients.
Use whitespace to highlight important pieces of content so users can focus without any distractions. Also, increase curiosity among window shoppers with short-form, value-adding content.
Once they are engaged, request them to subscribe to avail the whole version of the content through content upgrades. This will also help you capture contact information for users who may not reach out to your MSP company directly.
Mention what you do and where you are located. Also, talk a bit about your past clients so users know they’re dealing with a business that has a verified record of working with other companies and resolving their IT problems.
Maintain a Clean, Efficient Design Strategy
Remember 88 percent of users will not call you, fill a form, subscribe to your newsletter, or click any call-to-action on your site if they have a bad experience.
That doesn’t mean you should blow up a fortune creating the best site experience possible. Find something that intimates ‘you’ and give your customers a clear picture.
Avoid using your website as a virtual brochure or business card. Do not list product after product and service after service, under the assumption that your customers wish to know about the cloud, disaster recovery, backup, and technical specifications.
I’m not saying these are insignificant, but if that’s all your website is about, it can be a frustrating experience. Give folks something more tangible so they don’t bounce off quickly and take their money with them. Develop a good UX to serve as a bridge in your MSP website’s conversion funnel.
Remove Clutter from Your Menu
Adopt the ‘less is more’ approach for your website menu. Limit the options to no more than seven items and move all important information to the left side of the page. Proceed gradually towards the center.
Now, what’s important for one MSP may not be as valuable for another, but we can all agree that contact details must be highlighted on the menu bar. If your visitors have questions, a direct link to your MSP’s phone number or email is a good way to get those resolved quickly.
Focus on the Service Catalog
Think about how to organize your service catalog instead of displaying your service offerings willy-nilly. Users are often greeted with numerous categories and subcategories, when the truth is, they are searching for a specific service category.
Avoid overwhelming your visitors with too many details. Improve service categorization for rapid informed decision-making. Use service bundles and customer-focused language to make it easier for users to look for the services they want.
Use Images Smartly
Never fill up your website with dull, generic stock images. It fails to distinguish your MSP company from others, and affects people’s perception of your brand, failing to form a connection with the user. Remember, users are people and they will relate to people more than lifeless buildings.
Develop a special bond with your visitors by using real images of your people. Not only does this provide a sneak peek into the company culture but also makes the site more relatable.
Remember to compress high-resolution images with optimization tools like Compressnow and Optimizilla so they don’t consume too much bandwidth and slow down your website.
Your Website Is Your Asset
Use your website to create a rock-solid foundation for your MSP company – one that drives your MSP sales process and supports your lead generation strategy.
You don’t have to change your services or your IT business perspective to garner new clients; it’s all about sending the message your prospects want to hear out into the world.
Think of your website as a tool that informs visitors about the problems your company solves, your approach to different problems, and why your solution is worth their attention.
Simultaneously, you are qualifying and disqualifying leads automatically.
Every conversation will now begin from a more reliable space. That in itself will ensure your MSP company takes off in the best possible way.
In this package, you will get five guides helping to create marketing strategies and tips on:
- Dealing with on-site SEO
- Creating web advertising properly
- Email chains for MSPs
- Content marketing for an MSP blog
- Social media marketing