Today’s websites are interactive and collaborative. They include links to social media, constantly evolving blogs, videos, and interactive activities like games and contests. No matter how attractive your company website may be, its primary purpose is to engage prospects, serve customers, and build your business.
Here are 10 tips for crafting a successful website:
- Establish goals. Determine your goal for having a website. Is it simply to have a web presence? If that is your answer, you are missing a valuable marketing and sales tool. Your website establishes your presence, provides contact information, and allows potential customers to engage with you.
- Use your site to make life easier for your clients, prospects, and employees. Identify areas where you can supply information:
- Your most frequently asked customer questions.
- Any information that your salespeople tend to provide repeatedly
- Answers to client questions that you want to standardize for company consistency
- Establish credibility for your company. Your website should provide enough information to overcome natural buyer hesitance, create rapport and a sense of trust, and make it easier for customers to take action - no matter what time of day.
- Go with a clean, professional design. Most consumers search online before making a purchase so your website, not your place of business, is often the first impression you make. A well-designed site can project an impressive image while a poorly designed, out-of-date site will turn customers away.
- Make your site easy to navigate. Refrain from assuming your customers know where to look for important information. If your customers want to view new products, make that simple. If they primarily seek how-to advice on using your products, make that information easy to find. Pretend you are a new user, or better yet, have a friend try out your site to ensure visitors can easily find what they want and need. During the development phase, use customers to provide feedback about design elements.
- Publish useful content. Provide helpful, knowledgeable information about your company, products, and services. Make the visit worthwhile for potential customers, and you will build trust and sales. Your content should include the features and benefits of your offerings, as well as customer testimonials and stories about your company, staff, and products.
- Include a great "About Us" page. People love stories. Tell potential customers who you are. Give them a sense of your company’s personality, values, goals, and business approach. Tell them why you started the company and what you see as its purpose.
- Incorporate a “Call to Action” on every page. Your “call to action” could be as simple as a “click-through” to content, a phone number, or directions on how to place an order.
- Track results. Use Google Analytics and other tools to monitor page views and click-throughs from other sites, email, and social media. Monitor leads and sales that can be attributed to the site. Use this information to constantly improve your site.
- Make your site dynamic. Nothing kills search engine optimization like a site that goes weeks or months without updates. Regularly update the content, which can be easily handled through a blog.
Ensure your site contains easy-to-navigate information and a call to action in an eye-catching design to create a successful website. Be informative and strive to connect with your audience. These tips will help you design a webpage that works for your small business.