Every business needs a website these days. Whether it is to generate more traffic to their brick and mortar location or drive in new customers from the internet. A website is essential for success. Website design is often overlooked by small businesses because they don't realize how important it can be for their bottom line. A well-designed site that includes all of the latest features will make your company look professional, which leads to increased revenue opportunities!
They have a huge impact on conversion rates. This is because they make it easier for visitors to find what they want and convert into customers.
While there is no one-size-fits all approach to building a website, there are some general guidelines that should be followed in order to create an effective site. Website features have changed over time and will continue to change as technology continues to evolve. In this blog post, we'll explore 10 of the most important must-have website features available today!
When someone lands on your site, they shouldn't have to do investigative work to figure out what you do. Two things should instantly be clear: what you do and what you want the visitor to do.
You need a clear description that will attract the visitor's attention immediately (within 2-3 seconds) and encourage them to stay on your website longer.
Your website layout needs to be simple and reasonably organized. Navigation tabs should be placed on top of each and every web page that links to all the main pages of your website.
It is essential that your website displays detailed contact information prominently on your website.
Include the phone number you want people to call for sales inquiries and make sure to include a clickable "Contact us" preferably at the top left or top right corner of the home page or utilize an easy-to-use contact and inquiry form throughout your site.
This is a good strategy to improve your company’s credibility and the point is to make it very easy for users to communicate with you on their terms.
Most businesses with brick-and-mortar locations rely on customers within a certain geographic area.
Fortunately, when most people search for a product or service, they include a location. Including information for your location will help your SEO strategy succeed and is a crucial element for guiding visitors to the information they're looking for.
Potential customers need to trust you before choosing your business and with the growing competition in the digital market, one of the must-haves for your website are testimonials.
The testimonial section displays all the quotes and feedback from satisfied customers. This section is a brilliant way to increase your website’s credibility. Often, a testimonial page is one of the most visited pages on a site.
When you do get testimonials, ask your clients for permission to use their real names. Real endorsements from recognizable businesses and organizations means a lot more than an anonymous testimonial. This way, the testimonials make new visitors or customers feel confident purchasing from a legitimate business online.
Pinpoint exactly what action you want your visitors to take. You may want them to call you now for a free quote, sign up for an exclusive sales offer, download an e-book, or contact you regarding your services. Practically every page and subpage of your website should have a clear, concise call to action for what they need to do. You should also include your contact information and request their basic info so you can follow up with them.
Additionally, the simple “Call to Action” should be eye-catching without being too intrusive by using special buttons, colors or fonts.
The customers who know your name can find your website, but what about people that don’t?
Optimizing your site with the correct keywords throughout your text that matches a searcher’s keyword in their search, is VITAL for website traffic and generating leads. Putting in plenty of links, naming your page titles and URLs correctly, paired with images and videos are all part of a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
Keep your URL structure concise, easy to follow, and incorporate your choosen keywords. Focus on generic terms that customers who may not know your business are searching for. For example, 229websites wants to be found on Google for “Website development”, “SEO” and “West Virginia” rather than just “229 website”
For social media on your website you definitely need to include the various platform icons where visitors can click and be instantly connected to your business’s social media page(s) quickly and easily. You can even add a section on the contact page where you list which social media platforms you use. You social media pages should provide general information, regular updates and breaking news concerning your products or services.
Mobile traffic accounts for approximately half of all web traffic. Now more than ever it is crucial for a website’s design to look and perform well on all types of devices and screen sizes.
If online visitors feel like they are on the right page, they will slow down to read the full story. To enhance user's experience on your small business website, you need to organize the content for scanning. If your site doesn’t load quickly and provide a good user experience, you’ll lose visitors. (And those visitors aren’t likely to come back.)
The user is looking for something and you will need to give them that relevant and informative something; Perhaps even give them a reason to keep coming back.
By incorporating a regularly-maintained blog, your site’s SEO rankings will bolster – which means your site will be listed higher in the results on major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! – but if you don’t design, optimize, and maintain your blog properly, it can actually have the opposite effect.
Remember: Fresh content is a goldmine for SEO and as you might have guessed, creating good SEO content isn’t easy. You can contact 229websites to create your content!
Many people are. Well…. Lazy. and they don’t want to take the time to poke around on a website or FAQ page looking for the information they need. In order to meet customers where they are and provide the instant feedback they want, install a live chat option on your website.
When your customers want to get in touch quickly they are going to reach for that chat option rather than email or phone; because chat is 1-on-1, convenient and real-time.
Proper website design is both an art and a science. In order to balance visual intrigue and aesthetic appeal with effective performance and proficiency utilizing these 10 essential features on your website will ensure that your website works for you.
We’re experts at helping you craft the ideal website and can advise you about what should be on your website. Contact us now and find out how cost effective it can be to have a smart website designed for your business.
