Your website is the face of your business and the voice of your company online. I might be biased, but I truly believe that if you’re going to put marketing resources anywhere, it should be here.

I’ve heard many people describe their website as their business card online. But it could be so very much more than that. Your website speaks volumes about your professionalism and it invites interaction with your prospects. It’s the place your prospects go to find out more about you and decide if they want to do business with you.

Thankfully, there are some very simple ways to make your website stand out from the rest. All you need to do is focus on the power of your website as a marketing tool.

Here are five proven strategies that will make your website kick some serious ass:

#1 Demand Action

Every part of your website from your home page to your blog posts to your contact page should convey loud and clear what it is you want your visitors to do. It should be no question how you want them to behave and it should be exceedingly easy for them to take that step.

If you want your website visitor to buy something, then every single pixel on your website should lead them to a purchase. If your goal is to collect your visitor’s contact information, then there should be forms everywhere that entice them to share. Whatever the main goal for your website it, lead your visitor by the hand and they will help you accomplish it.

#2 Speak to Your Target Audience

If you haven’t figure out who your target audience is yet, stop everything you’re doing and figure that out first. Once you do, figure out how it is you need to speak in order to really reach them. Everything from the language you use to the look and feel of your website pulls a person in or pushes them away. Your goal of course is to pull in your target audience and push away those who are not a good fit for your business.

Be excessively clear about what you do, what you offer, and how you conduct business. Use the language your target audience uses. To figure out what that is, think about the language your current base of customers uses. Don’t try to be overly clever. Opt instead to be accessible.

#3 Boast Your Benefits

Now that you’ve clearly spelled out what you offer in a way that your key audience can understand you, it’s time to appeal to their deeper wants and desires by bragging about what you can do to make their lives better. Communicate loudly and clearly the benefits they’ll get by choosing you.

Each time you write a new blog post or detail a new product or service you’re offering, keep this strategy in mind. Are you simply describing what the service is or are you telling your future customer what choosing this service will do for them? The benefits should be front and center.

#4 Nurture Your Slowpokes

Not everybody who visits your website for the first time is ready to make a buying decision right that very second. In fact, unless you are a bail bondsman, it’s likely that your prospect’s needs aren’t immediately urgent. And that’s okay. While they might not be ready for you this minute, you need to be open to them taking their time and making their decision slowly.

Find a way to hang on to them and keep them coming back. Make sure they remember you’re here for them when they’ve decided it’s time. One great way to do this is by getting them to join your social network. If they follow you on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, they’ll see your updates in their feed. An even more effective and personal way of reaching out to them is through email. Offer free newsletter updates in exchange for their email address. Now they have a private, non-intrusive way of calling on you when they want your help.

#5 Give Your Best Your All

There is absolutely no better way to boost business than to reach out to your current base of customers. Think about it. You’ve already expended the marketing resources necessary to acquire them. You’ve already fulfilled your promise to them with your products or services. And you’ve won their respect for delivering on that promise. That means little more needs to be done to get them to come back to you.

Expand on the relationship you’ve already built by offering more services aligned with what they already purchased from you. If that’s not conducive to your business (like if you sell life insurance), then tap into these customers as a referral source. Tell them you have loved working with them and are pleased to have been able to get them the results they wanted. Then tell them you would love to work with more people like them. Ask if they have friends or family who could benefit from your help.

This of course only works if you truly have delivered on your original promise to them. That’s how you win real customer loyalty, which should be your absolute end-all number one goal.