Whether you are a personal trainer, own a barbers, or have another type of small business, a great website is essential for your company’s success. As a digital expert who has worked on building or marketing over many small business websites, I know what it takes to create great and engaging business websites.
If you are looking to build a new start-up website or make your current site more effective, here are 10 key steps to getting started and helping your small business website compete effectively in the online marketplace.
A clear description of who you are
Someone who stumbles upon your website shouldn’t have to do investigative work to figure out what, exactly, it is that you do.
That means clearly stating your name and summing up your products or services right on the homepage.
A simple, sensible Web address
Don’t make things complicated. Your domain name is like your brand. It should be easy for a user to type it into a Web browser or an e-mail address.
I recommend the .com domain as users are conditioned to type that extension when they enter a Web address.
For non-profits or organisations, I usually recommend using a .org domain for branding purposes, but also recommend having a .com version of the domain in case a user accidentally types the .com address.
However, try to avoid dashes (which can cause SEO headaches) and numbers (which can cause confusion for customers).
An easily navigated site map
Clear links to the most important pages, and a site map, are crucial for guiding visitors to the information they’re looking for.
Be sure your navigation is clearly laid out. I always recommend using drop-downs in the navigation menu so the visitor can see the content under every heading from virtually any page. You want to make it very easy for your visitors to find what they are looking for, or what you want them to know.
Easy-to-find contact information
You wouldn’t want to lose a customer to a competitor just because you made it difficult for them to get in touch with you.
Not every online visitor has the patience to click through every page on your website to find the contact information. The best place for the contact information is the top left or top right corner of the home page. It is also a good practice to include contact information in every page of the website in the footer or side bar or even in top right corner, which helps the visitors to find it more easily.
One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is to force only one way to reach them. The point is to make it very easy for users to communicate with you on their terms.
You should also be sure to include several ways for them to contact you. phone, e-mail address and a standard contact form, are all good options. I also suggest including your address, and even a link to your location in Google maps.
Customer testimonials
Honest words from others help make your products or services more tangible to customers who are visiting you online.
They help your potential customers to build trust in you, especially if you are new. And they help shoppers to confirm whether the product or services meet their needs.
Remember, people love to hear stories from real people. They help people find out other things you haven’t said on your website.
An obvious call to action
Tell your online visitors literally what you want them to do with clear tones of commend. For instance, you may want them to call you now for free quote, or sign up to your exclusively online discount, or add products to the online shopping cart, etc.
You need to call attention to your suggestion by using special buttons or highlighting the text.
Know the basics of SEO
Your website won’t do you as much good if no one can stumble upon it. Become familiar with the SEO basics to make it more accessible by search engine.
You don’t need to employ mysterious, ninja, black hat SEO types to rank well on the search engines. Simply make sure your website is coded correctly.
That means using the correct keywords throughout your text, putting in plenty of links, naming your page titles and URLs correctly, and employing the magic of images and videos.
Fresh, quality content
For many businesses, your website is your first impression on a customer. You want to give them what they’re looking for, and perhaps even give them a reason to keep coming back.
Users are looking for something. Make sure you give it to them and be sure your content is original, well written and valuable.
Fresh content is a goldmine for SEO, as well. You can keep your content from getting stale (and give your company some personality, too) by incorporating a regularly-updated blog or connecting in your social media feeds.
A secure hosting platform
Having your online information hijacked is a nightmare, and, should it happen to your business, it could cost you customers.
It is imperative that you have a secure, trustworthy hosting company to keep the bad guys out and your content up and running. It is also very important to keep your content management system updated in order to stay one step ahead of the hackers.”
A design and style that’s friendly to online readers
Online visitors often scan through a Web page to sample the content first when they open a new Web page. If they 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 organise the content for scanning.
I recommend three style points for online writing to keep in mind:
– Break things down into short paragraphs, with headers if necessary
– Use bullet points
– Highlight important words or phrases.
In the end, simplicity and basic colours are the best bet. Again, the content is the focus, not dancing clowns at the top of the page.
If you’re thinking about getting a website, feel free to contact me and my team. We have done different types of websites to suit the needs of our clients. Give us a call or drop us an e-mail. We will be more than happy to share our experiences with you!
