Up to 62% of consumers (and growing) do their research online before making a purchase! It’s never been more important for businesses to have a well-designed, informative website.
To make a lasting impression on potential customers, here’s 10 essentials for your small business website:
1. Mobile, mobile, mobile! Your website must be mobile-friendly.
- Between December 2013 and December 2015, smartphone internet consumption grew by 78%.
- Your customers are likely accessing your website from a mobile device.
- A responsive website ensures a smooth, easily-navigable experience and happier customers.
- Googles cares deeply that your website is mobile-friendly. If it’s not, your website will be bumped down the search results pages, finally landing behind your competitors’ responsive websites.
2. Relevant business information. People are visiting your website to learn more about what your business offers.
- 47% of website visitors check out a company's products/services page before looking at any other sections of the site.
- Design each webpage from your customer’s perspective: Give them the info they need to make an informed decision about your product/service.
- Make sure important content is easy to find on your website.
3. Visible Contact Info. It should be as clear as possible how and where to get in touch with your business.
- The business phone number should be visible on the homepage. Once on a company's homepage, 64% of visitors want to see the company's contact information.
- Enable Click to Call. Based on Google’s commissioned research by Ipsos, 70% of mobile searchers have used “The Call Button” in order to get in touch directly with companies.
- Another convenience favoured by many is live chat support. Learn more about why it’s awesome here.
- A Contact Us page: a feedback form, the business street address, driving directions (if applicable), or even a link to your FAQ section.
4. Simple Design. The more “visually complex” a website is, the less likely it is to be seen as “beautiful”.
- All elements (words, images, videos, links) on the homepage should have a distinct and meaningful purpose.
- Avoid clutter, small/hard to read fonts, and complex layouts.
- Include clean lines, intuitive navigation, simple font style and colour schemes throughout the entire website.
5. Reviews. As the digital age’s word-of-mouth, online reviews are a simple, yet effective way to increase traffic, sales, and improve your online reputation.
- 88% of consumers take reviews into account on purchase decisions!
- Add a review widget like Yotpo so customers can leave a review directly on your website.
- Include a few customer testimonials/reviews on your website.
6. Quality images. Showcase your products and services in action.
- Use high-resolution images to highlight your products and/or services
- Better quality images create a more enjoyable user experience
7. Understand SEO basics. Search Engine Optimization is a guiding principle when building a website for your business.
- SEO comprises several factors working together to build your website’s visibility in search engine results.
- Some factors include: website content, mobile-friendliness, website quality (speed to load pages, duplicate pages, broken links, etc), website architecture and geophysical location
- SEO dramatically affects how many people (potential customers!) can find your website in the internet maze.
- Even if you aren’t building your own website or implementing the SEO strategy, it can be extremely helpful if you understand what SEO can and cannot do for your business.
8. Call To Action. A visual focal point on your website that invites customers to act.
- Common examples of Call to Action are “Buy Now” or “Signup Here” or “Enter your email”.
- Draw customers’ attention to your offer with colours, images, or typefaces.
- For example, a bright pink “Start Your Free Trial” button against a neutral background will immediately catch the eye.
9. Monitor load time. How quickly (or slowly) the content on your website loads is crucial to maintaining visitors’ interest.
- Page load speed affects SEO
- Images, videos, or text that takes too long to load can cause frustration and drive customers away.
10. Advertise your website on social media. Make it easy for anyone visiting your social media pages to get to your website.
- Add your website to all your social media profiles, business cards and other marketing materials
- Facebook updates, Tweets, Instagram posts etc., should eventually entice people to check out your website.
More and more people are fact-checking products and companies online before they make a purchase. Use these essentials to help your small business website stand out among the online clutter.
Get a mobile-friendly website that not only looks good, but also adds value to your business. With custom designs, digital services and reasonable prices, Webware’s toolkit is the perfect solution for small businesses.
Related Articles:
4 Principles of Psychology to Keep in Mind When Building Your Website
