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Louisville, Kentucky can be a finicky place to do business. We've all seen major franchisees open locations and leave town with their tails betwixt their legs. So what's that mean for Louisville businesses when it comes to a high performing website? Here's our list of top 5 things we suggest that all Louisville websites consider:
5) Keep Your Louisville Website Weird: LIBA (Louisville Independent Business Association) has espoused the phrase "Keep Louisville Weird" as its mantra to promote utilizing local businesses rather than franchises and big box stores. Make sure your Louisville website features unique and compelling content that not only captures your brand voice and tone, but appeals to the Louisvillian sensibilities. This includes social proof content such as testimonials (even better: videomonials) by locals, images of local landmarks, and content that illustrates how your service, product or campaign fits into the Louisville landscape. This should be given for any website anywhere, but make sure your website celebrates its Louisville-ness.
4) World Class City? Then World Class Website: Louisville has recently been featured on a ton of travel destination lists. From GQ's "Manliest Cities in America" to "Best of World" by Traveler Magazine. So what do world class businesses in world class cities need? Yep, world class websites. Why? Because those articles increase tourism and tourists use the internet to plan their destinations. Should a visitor to Louisville check out your website, what would they see? Odds are against you that your website is world class as roughly 90% of local websites are dated, subpar and poor representations of their owners. Make sure your website has engaging content, is great looking, easy to find and easy to use.
3) A Mobile Site for a City on the Go: Louisvillians get around the city. We often run into people in the South End's Vietnam Kitchen and see them later that same day across town having a bourbon at Norton Commons' Commonwealth Tap or downtown's Against The Grain. Considering access to the internet via mobile devices is equal to those on desktops or laptops, you'd be wise to make sure your website looks great on works perfectly on all devices (which we refer to as responsive web design). Furthermore, it's imperative that your website feature a phone number and address at the top of your website to make it one-click accessible to call or get directions.
2) Local SEO: Louisvillians looking to utilize local businesses use Google and other search engines to find them, no surprise here. What is surprising is why more Louisville businesses don't take advantage of the opportunities presented by the fairly uncompetitive landscape for many keyword searches. Getting ranked for "Best Website Louisville" is a great deal easier than "Best Website Chicago" simply because there are fewer businesses vying for the spot and Louisville businesses spend a smaller amount of their marketing budget online. As Louisville grows, so will the competitive landscape, so it's very important to get started as soon as possible.
1) One Degree of Kevin Bacon: Louisville is a small city and it seems everyone knows everyone. For this reason it's important to show yourself and your employees online. It's well documented that people prefer to business with people the know, like and trust so therefore it's important that you feature your employees photos and bios as well as integrate your website with social media profiles whenever it makes sense. The new website for American Roofing does this beautifully.
In summary, Louisville businesses doing business locally should take advantage of the relatively non-competitive landscape and make sure they have a world class, responsive website that illustrates their employees, originality and local roots. So, pick a Louisville Web design company to design your world class website and show the locals and the world alike that you mean business.
