5 min
Our Top 10 MSP Website Design Tips
For potential clients to trust your MSP business, your website needs to make them feel comfortable and create a solid foundation for your company.
Several ingredients are needed for an MSP website design that converts visitors into clients. As an MSP, it’s all about proving your credibility with the quality of your website and its content.
Read on to discover 10 crucial, actionable elements to consider while designing your MSP website.
1. Secure your MSP website with an SSL certificate
Firstly, having a secure website is a must. Furthermore, the SSL ‘padlock’ symbol next to your URL shows website visitors that you’re encrypting any data they might enter on your site, keeping them safe from hackers.
To get the SSL padlock symbol, you’ll need to get an SSL certificate.
The SSL certificate is a means of verifying who your company is.
Firstly, a certificate authority must confirm your business information before you can secure your site with an SSL.
Most critically, popular browsers such as Chrome and Firefox will flag up any website without an SSL certificate as potentially dangerous.
Ultimately, nothing will have clients high-tailing it off your site quicker than a big red warning message due to not having an SSL certificate in place!
2. Create an up-to-date MSP website design
If you haven’t updated your site in a while, chances are that your visitors will notice.
Website designs age lightning quick as trends evolve. Furthermore, visitors expect you to keep up with all other sites they use (not just your competitors). Ultimately, keeping your MSP website design fast, pleasant to look at, and responsive on all devices your visitors use, will show potential clients you care about first impressions.
3. Make your MSP website design easy to navigate
Attention spans are getting shorter.
In other words, you have just a few seconds to make a lasting impression on your visitors. If your website is slow to load and difficult to explore, visitors won’t stick around.
That’s why it’s a must that your MSP website is designed so it is easy to navigate.
Check for broken links, make menus clear, and show people where you want them to go to find the information they need.
In addition, avoid duplicating content, huge amounts of writing without any formatting, and extensive menus that feel overwhelming.
4. Know your target audience
There’s the saying that “if you try to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one”. Knowing your target audience is crucial for a credible website.
For starters, you’re more likely to convert visitors into clients for two reasons:
- You’ll attract more of the right people to your site;
- You’ll prove you have the knowledge and experience of working with your target audience, which builds trust and credibility.
On the flip side, if your content is generic and doesn’t really specify who you help and why your visitors may not feel comfortable working with you. This is because they may not feel confident that you can actually help them.
5. Use social proof on your MSP website
Social proof is when your customers do the talking for you. It’s one of the most powerful marketing tactics out there.
When your clients are writing positive reviews, leaving 5-star ratings, and shouting their results out on social media, it shows others that you’re the expert.
It works so well because it’s authentic and you don’t have any control over editing what is said.
The result? More trust in your business and better results for you!
Make sure to incorporate social proof in your MSP website design. Furthermore, make sure it’s visible as soon as visitors land on your website. Ultimately, social proof will help you build trust and credibility with your target audience.
Companies that don’t readily share their business or contact details feel shady.
People want transparency. Furthermore, your potential clients want to feel comfortable that they will be able to contact you when they need to.
Be sure to display your email address and phone number, and create a contact page with your business details.
7. Show the human side of your business
Clients want to work with people, not corporations.
That’s why showing who’s behind your business is imperative!
Instead of filling your MSP website pages with stock images, use custom imagery and iconography. Furthermore, use photos of your staff and team members because they’re what makes your company unique. Ultimately, this gives your website a more human touch, and people love to know who they’ll be working with!
Sure, you’re there to offer services, but a generic site feels impersonal and is less effective at building a level of trust with your visitors.
8. Demonstrate your authority in the MSP space with excellent content
It’s all very well and good telling potential clients what you can do, but it’s even better if you can demonstrate it too. In other words, don’t just tell your visitors what you can do, show them what you can help them achieve.
Do share content centered around your services and expertise as an MSP. Use Blog posts, videos, whitepapers, tutorials, checklists, and guides, which will prove you know what you’re talking about.
Ultimately, content is an incredibly effective marketing tactic.
As long as you create content that helps your target audience learn, you’ll be building trust. As a result, your website visitors will see how helpful you are and trust you which will make you an excellent prospect to hire.
Need help with your content marketing strategy? Check out our top tips on the social media management tools you can leverage.
9. Don’t tell your customers, show them case studies
Another way to demonstrate your capabilities is with case studies.
Creating case studies with your happy and loyal customers is an excellent way to show website visitors the results you can help them achieve. Video case studies work best! Alternatively, if you’re unable to use video, web formatting will work too.
In a case study, you’ll want to cover things like:
- Issues your customers need help with (improving the cyber security posture, business continuity, general organization, compliance, minimizing downtown, etc.)
- How you are helping them
- Results and KPIs they’re now achieving thanks to working with you
Ultimately, people love hearing stories. In other words, case studies are an impactful way of communicating your results as a story.
Lost on how to get started with creating your first case study? Here is an example of how you can share a custom success story from our YouTube Channel.
10. Create a compelling and clear call to action (CTA)
Having a clear call to action shows people what to do next. Additionally, it could be the deciding factor in getting a new lead or having someone leave your website.
To put it plainly, use big and clear CTAs in your MSP website design. To illustrate this, here are some examples including:
- Booking an appointment
- Using gated content like an e-book or white paper which requires contact details
- Getting a free tech or cyber security analysis etc.
Furthermore, providing a clear CTA will guide your MSP website visitors to the next logical step. Ultimately, if you help your website visitors understand each step of the process, starting with a clear CTA, they will feel more confident working with you.
Taking your MSP website design to the next level
To sum things up, implementing an SSL certificate, demonstrating your authority in the MSP space, and creating clear CTAs, are some of the important factors in creating an impactful MSP website design that reflects your business well.
Additionally, you’ll want to make sure you’re updating your MSP website design frequently, using case studies, showing that you’re human, including contact information, using social proof, and opting for easy navigation. Furthermore, you’ll need to start the process of getting to know your target audience which is a big one!
It all sounds so easy, right?
Ultimately, remember that your MSP website design is a work in progress. In other words, it’ll need continuous updating and you’ll want to work at improving it all the time.
For more marketing tips, check out our article on building an MSP Marketing Strategy, top tools to help with your social media, and how to set up a KPI tracking system at your MSP.