Whether you’re just starting out with a business, or you’re looking to create a personal website, it’s imperative to showcase the right features for the right audience in the most cost-effective way. The process of creating a website is a tricky one that can be overwhelming at times; a good way to make it easier is using a small business website builder to help you create the best site in the most time efficient and professional way.
Everybody has an idea about what they’d like to see on their website, but it is important to have a clear roadmap with a logical progression so that users can click through your pages and links to find what they are looking for. The ‘clickability’ and ‘user-friendliness’ of your website are also important aspects to consider.
There is so much more that needs to be taken into consideration for your website to function effectively, and to achieve its objectives. Here are some of them.
Get Social and Engage your Audience on Every Level
Once the right URL has been secured, it’s time to get busy.
Customers, clients, visitors or fans must be able to access what they’re looking for in as short a time as possible. Too much clutter leads to a high bounce rate, while insufficient information quickly loses the attention of your visitors. That’s why it’s important to have a website that is visually appealing, as well as highly user-friendly.
Websites today are like transit points for all manner of interconnected social media platforms. Effective websites are typically linked to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, G+ and other social media websites to spread your net as far and wide as possible. The purpose in all instances is to be as engaging and immersive as possible without overwhelming the user with too much information or the lack thereof.
You can always try to grow your following and reach out to audience organically, but there are instances when paid advertising is the way to go. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook effectively use marketing and advertising to target the right people, but this costs money. Therefore, the allocation of a budget is essential, regardless of whether you are using Google Adwords, Facebook ads, or any other combination of marketing material.
SEO is Always Important
Much has been made about search engine optimization on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other leading search engines. This is an important component of all website structure, marketing and content development.
Users typically search for individual words, strings of words, phrases or terminology and if these are absent in your business website, your web pages may not get featured at all. This is the issue that SEO is trying to solve.
(Almost) everybody wants their site to rank on the first page of Google, but since the first page has such a limited number of results, this is a monumental feat to achieve. High website ranking requires a combination of skillful organic and paid work. Promotion of your website with paid searches is essential to target the right clientele at the right time.
Website design also plays a big part in how your site is ranked by Google, and how it is perceived by customers. Aesthetically pleasing designs are best, and minimalism trumps clutter any day.
Building Credibility with your Website
Web layout and design
A well-designed website is not necessarily guaranteeing a business’ reputation. However, it’s a great indicator of a credible business.
Nothing is more eye-opening and engaging than the right mixture of images, texts and animations. Therefore, those should be factored into the overall business website design.
Content
Simplicity trumps complexity every time. Customers do not want to be bombarded with too much information; the less irrelevant material that is provided the better off you are.
Each page on your website should be appropriate for the content it contains, and for the purposes of the user. Don’t undervalue the importance of your content: It may very well be the differentiating factor between a business website that brings in zero dollars and the one that brings in millions.
Contact information
During the design process, it is imperative to list all vital information related to your business. It should be easy for visitors, clients and fans to get in touch in as many ways as possible. This includes e-mail, social media, live chat functionality, telephone if required and snail mail. The information provides credibility, and this is precisely what is required to build brand awareness and trust with your user base.
Not only the availability of the contact information, but your potential customers should also be able to access it easily. It’s always a good idea to make the contact information ‘clickable’ so that customers can either click on your phone number or have it go through to a VOIP like Skype or have a clickable e-mail address that opens up on Yahoo, Gmail, etc.
Side note: the e-mail address that you use for your business should always be separate from your personal e-mail address – this is one of the essential components of building credibility with your clientele. And remember to link your website pages together in such a way that clarity is apparent throughout.
Testimonials
Credibility can also be built with authentic customer testimonials with contactable references. Testimonials from happy clients are priceless and can dramatically impact the trust level of your potential clients.
Customer testimonials are not the only ones that can enhance your credibility. Facebook comments, Twitter comments, Discus comments, etc. are excellent social proofs and can serve as testimonials in themselves.
To cap it off, you will always want to be sure that your website offers a maximum security for your customers. VeriSign secured labels indicate secure socket layer SSL technology is in effect and this is highly regarded by users. There are many such options that you can use including GeoTrust and TrustE among others.
Accessibility: Mobile-friendliness is a Must
Today, the vast majority of users access websites through mobile smartphones, tablets, and phablets. If your website has not specifically been engineered to cater to mobile users, you are doing yourself and your business a great disservice.
Remember to optimize your website for mobile connectivity by way of easily downloadable iOS and Android apps for all your users. Mobile handheld devices are taking over PCs and laptops as the go-to platforms; therefore optimizing for mobile is no longer a suggestion – it’s mandatory.
Takeaway
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This holds true to any projects, including your business website ‘renovation’ project. Therefore, be sure to plan any changes you want to implement to your business website. Furthermore, achieving the best performing business website needs a lot of testing. Make sure that you use the right testing tools that can help you in optimizing your website.