8 Reasons to Redesign Your Funeral Home's Website

A member of your community has a friend who recently prearranged with your funeral home. She had such a positive experience with your firm that she shared how glad she was that she put her plans in place and encouraged her friend to do the same. Curious, this newly referred potential client pulled up your firm’s website on her smartphone. Does the experience your website provides match the exceptional service her friend described? If she conducts additional research on your website later, will she find enough information to encourage her to set up an appointment?

You owe it to your firm and the families you serve to establish an online presence that truly reflects the value you bring to the community. Here are a few of the signs your current website doesn’t measure up, meaning it's time for a website redesign:

1. The homepage fails to tell a compelling story

Website visitors lose interest in what they’re seeing within a matter of seconds. If you only had a moment to talk to your potential client families, what would you say to them about funeral service and its value for them? Does your website’s home page communicate this message in a meaningful way?

Too often, websites deter visitors from the start because their homepages don’t address the reasons why people arrive at the sites in the first place. Instead of telling website visitors who you are, focus the messaging on what your firm can do to help them. This leads to the next important sign your funeral home website could use a makeover:

2. Visitors can’t quickly find what they’re looking for

Today, many websites’ content is focused on ideal customer profiles and buyer personas — pre-identified groups of organizations’ most likely buyers who share certain characteristics and needs. By taking note of the different types of people who interact with your firm — and what they want from you and your website — you can help guide them through the information that is most useful to them.

As a starting point, consider the key user groups for your firm’s website, such as at-need families, people who are interested in prearranging (for themselves or a loved one), members of the community who are looking for obituaries/service information and people who need grief support resources. Your firm is likely to have additional audiences based on your community’s unique traits and your firm’s specialized service offerings such as pet memorialization. What does your website do to serve each of these groups, and how easily can they find the information that’s relevant to them? If your website navigation doesn’t allow them to quickly locate what they’re looking for, you’ll lose their attention — and possibly their business.

3. Your site isn’t mobile-friendly

If you’re an active smartphone user, you’ve likely experienced the frustration of trying to navigate a site that wasn’t built for use on mobile devices. Unreadable navigation menus and text probably caused you to abandon the website in favor of another resource that was easier to use. As the Pew Research Center notes, “nearly two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone owners, and for many these devices are a key entry point to the online world.” If your website isn’t optimized to be used on mobile devices, many of your website visitors may give up on your website, and in turn, you could be missing out on opportunities to serve them.

Mobile optimization is important from more than just a user experience standpoint — it also plays a role in how Google displays search results. Not sure if your website is considered mobile-friendly? Enter your firm’s URL in Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

4. The content isn’t optimized for search engines

There are many components to an effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, which will help potential client families find your website when they’re using search engines to locate information about funeral planning. It’s particularly important to ensure the content on your website contains keywords that the people in your community are most likely to be searching for online.

Keywords must be used in the context of relevant content, however — if you simply fill your pages with the keywords you think will be likely to help you rank more favorably in search engine results, you may actually end up being penalized by certain search engines. Instead, let the keywords fall naturally within the content, and consider using related keywords to help you rank for a variety of terms. 

5. THE SITE DOESN’T DEMONSTRATE YOUR EXPERTISE

More and more often, marketers are called upon to think like publishers. You and your staff members are content experts in the area of funeral service. Your website should reflect this through the compelling text found on its pages — organizations have opportunities to elevate themselves on the web through the content they provide.

Visitors to your website won’t trust your firm simply because you tell them you are experienced, however. When crafting website content, keep the following user sentiment in mind: “What’s in it for me? Why should I take the time to look through the content on your site?” Instead of simply writing about your firm’s long history in funeral service, demonstrate your expertise by providing a wealth of information that potential client families will find valuable. You can also show evidence of your firm's exceptional service by incorporating testimonials from your satisfied clients.

6. THE CONTENT IS IMPERSONAL

The trend toward creative, personalized memorial services isn’t an isolated demand: your website visitors also expect messages that speak directly to their needs. Establish a “voice” for your written content that is consistent throughout the site and relatable for members of your community who are interested in your services. You should also provide clear paths through this information that match the stages that your client families go through when they are researching and making decisions about funeral services.

This leads back to the concept of buyer personas introduced earlier. Content that is relevant to one person’s experience may not be meaningful to a person in another situation. A website must effectively address the needs of multiple audiences at the same time.

7. IT DOESN’T ENCOURAGE INTERACTION

You’ve updated your website to provide relevant, thoughtfully compiled information to help members of your community learn about funeral service. But what’s next? If your website visitors have reached a decision point, they need a way to quickly take action. By providing “contact us” forms and contact information in key locations on your website, you’ll help ensure potential clients take the next steps before they become distracted or lose interest.

Your firm’s online presence should also be continuously evolving and provide frequently updated opportunities for conversation with members of your community. This is one reason why a funeral home blog can become an important part of your firm’s online marketing efforts. Your website should also encourage members of your community to visit and interact with your funeral home social media channels.

8. THE DESIGN IS CLUTTERED AND/OR OUTDATED

Your firm invests a lot of resources in creating an environment in which families feel comfortable. You offer immaculately maintained facilities that provide a welcoming environment for visitors and interact with every guest as if he or she were a member of your own family. But does your website offer a similarly exceptional experience? If your online presence has an unappealing design that doesn’t match the level of excellence you provide at your funeral home, you may be discouraging members of your community from stepping through your doors in the first place.

A word of caution: When redesigning a website, it’s tempting to focus most of your attention on aesthetics, ensuring that the site “looks modern.” While the visual appearance of your site is certainly important, remember that a website redesign is also an opportunity to rethink the site’s content and structure to make sure it is meeting the needs of your audiences.

Without the right messaging, even the most visually appealing websites won’t provide memorable experiences for the people who visit them. Visitors also need to be provided with a clear path through the information to help them reach a decision to take the next step: contacting you to request your services. 

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