3 Ways to Make the Most of Your Yachting Website

April 20, 2017

Distinguishing yourself from the sea of similar blue yachting websites can sometimes be a challenge, but wielding the right information is the first step towards success. Here are a few ways you can step up your yachting website to be more appealing and responsive.

Integrated Yacht Feeds From Your MLS

API stands for Application Program Interface, a software which allows two programs to communicate with each other. MLS is Multiple Listing Systems, often used in real estate websites but also on some yachting websites to pull feeds from different sources. When combined it allows feeds like Yatco or Yachtworld to be featured on your website in the same style as your own listings.

This is an improvement upon the old method of joining two different pages called iframe. Iframe is a way to load another html document inside of your website, like embedding a YouTube video onto your site that has a set border and size. Unlike API from MLS, this method is not customizable and does not offer any SEO benefits. With the API, you can style the content you’re pulling so that it blends into your website design instead of having an out of place window in a different style. It also helps the site remain responsive and work smoothly on mobile which helps with your SEO.

Quality Pictures

Yachting websites are made to cater to a very specific audience, the people who love the water and want to buy a yacht to enjoy it. To these people, boating and or yachting is a hobby and a lifestyle. So, what better way to sell them on the luxurious lifestyle than providing them with breathtaking videos and stunning high quality boat pictures? High quality pictures create an air of luxury far better than even the most amazingly designed website in the world, because of the impact they can have on the audience.

As consumers, we love to look at pictures to get a better feel for what we would be getting when we are shopping online.  If anything, this is more important in the yachting industry since you want someone to take one look at those pictures and decide that they want to look at it in person or buy outright.

A good example of this are the car manufacturers who have excelled at taking gorgeous photos of their cars to get people’s attention while they browse their models. With their in-depth galleries for each model, it allows potential customers to get the full experience online before they see the product at a dealership.

On top of having good product pictures, you should also take the same approach with pictures of your brokers. These are the people your customer will be dealing with, so you should make them seem friendly and approachable with well written bios and nice pictures. Which will encourage them to pick you over a competitor that doesn’t have pictures or bios, or lacks quality content.

Content and Call-to-Action

Testimonials are also a great asset to gain potential customers trust and encourage them to do business with you. For example, products on Amazon with a lot of good reviews will always be favored over one with a lot of negative ones or none. Because people want to make sure they are doing business with trustworthy, and helpful people who will help them get to what they want.

Posting interesting and informative blog posts can provide your company a reputation for being well informed in your field. When you walk into a store you assume that any questions you may have can be answered by the employees, or that they can point you in the direction of the information. Informative guides to new owners on the nuances of the luxury yacht life, decorating advice, or tips on how to make the most of their trip to the Mediterranean are just a few of the many topics you could inform your audience about. Benefitting not only your audience, but also providing your website with interesting and relevant content helps your company focus its value to the customer.

Focusing on this value is a technique on Call’s to action, which attempt to interact with your customer for a target goal. For example, when you have a popup for people to subscribe to your newsletter while they are reading a news or blog post, that is a call to action. Having banners on your website encouraging them to visit certain pages are another method to this. It addresses a question or urges the viewer to complete an intended action so that they can be more interactive and interested in your business.

Websites and technology are constantly evolving around us. Which is why it is important to always keep your eyes on the horizon to avoid getting lost in the vastness of it all. But with the right equipment (i.e. a map and compass) you can guide yourself into uncharted waters and discover a myriad of resources and useful tips to help your company be the very best it can be.