Putting up a website is a great idea for businesses of any size, but a surprising number of companies have no idea how to do it. Even today, you can find sites that are nothing more than a page or two of boring pictures and no information. Needless to say, these Web duds are not going to bring their operators the hoped-for results. To make sure that you create a site worth its bytes, keep these things in mind:
Your website is a storefront
Give it the same bright, clean look a brick-and-mortar showroom should have. Avoid drab colors and pictures of your back room. Customers don’t see those things when they come into your physical shop, and they shouldn’t see them online. Instead, show crisp pictures of your products or of your staff performing your company’s services.
Your website is also a salesperson
Make sure it provides all of the necessary information about your products and services. Avoid the faux pas of directing customers to call you for information. They came to your site instead of using the phonebook for a reason! The content on your site is one of the most essential aspects of a modern website. Don’t disappoint your visitors by leaving it out.
Avoid the brochure look
Brochures are boring, and often don’t have the information a prospect is looking for.
Have a shopping cart. Don’t just use your site to get leads. Catch people right when they decide to buy by making it easy for them to order online. Most successful companies have a large amount of repeat business. Repeat customers don’t need to hear the sales pitch again. Make it easy for them to restock with just a few clicks.
Make it easy for customers to contact you
Have contact forms, your phone number and your address on every page. Still, always prioritize online ordering over contact. Sales pitches are only fun for the salesman. Most people just want to buy their item and get on with their day, whether that item is a printer ink cartridge or car insurance. These people only want to see contact information because it makes you look more real.
Decide who will do your web design
It can be tempting to save money by doing it yourself, but updates quickly get to be a pain when you have a business to run. Not only that, it’s hard to keep abreast of modern site design methods if that isn’t your primary interest. Therefore, it can be worth it to hire someone to do your web design to keep everything fresh.
Remember SEO!
SEO, or search engine optimization, is essential to getting new visitors to your site. Anyone who says “SEO is dead” is someone who has failed at it. If you don’t have the necessary skills, hire someone who does. It doesn’t matter how great your site is if no one can find it.
These are just some of the essentials of a great business website. Other aspects to pay attention to include aesthetics, modern navigation schemes, fast load times and similar basics. Finally, test a few designs before settling on the final look. You may find that your customers love a style that you otherwise wouldn’t have considered.
Originally posted on March 27, 2013 @ 12:09 am