An online presence is imperative regardless of the size of your practice. After you have selected a good consulting domain name it is now time to develop your website. When it comes to putting up a Consultant website, there are a lot of key points to be considered.
Layout is the Key
A Consultant website must have an organized way of scattering its content. It should be carefully laid out so that the visitor can easily recognize one feature from another. Having everything packed on a single web page is never a good idea. This can potentially overwhelm the reader that he or she may miss out on the important information that must be communicated. Moreover, ads (if you decide to have them) should be placed strategically within the website so that it can still maintain its professional appearance despite the ads.
Go on sites like www.templatemonster.com and look at the templates they have developed for consultants. While you may want to purchase a standard template you can see how the content is structured and also pick the right color palette for your site. Most professional consultant sites use conservative colors especially blues and greens.
Content is Crucial
The Consultant website’s text is what brings prospects to your site. Here are four ideas for getting more people to your website:
Information on Your Area of Expertise- Including and even going above and beyond anything else in this list, you have to have information. In its purest form, the internet is all about information that can be freely accessed and is relevant to your site's topic. Having well written content articles not only brings prospects to your site but it gives you a chance to earn credibility with the audience.
Industry Related News - What's happening in your prospective client’s industry? Find interesting articles and post them on your site or write some yourself. Clients enjoy hearing about current trends and issues facing the industry. Make sure you include some links to some of your success stories if you have any completed engagements that help solve some of these issues.
Publications - Take a look around at other similar consulting websites and discover what types of publications they offer to their visitors. Things like e-zines, newsletters, booklets, and bulletins are all publications that offer targeted information. If you offer an e-zine, make sure that you at least send it out every two weeks so they get use to receiving the publication and include link backs to your site. Interviews - Interview clients that fall into your consulting niche, and target people who have used your services or consulting tools or can reliably pinpoint the ways in which tools like yours are so useful.
