As many as 35% of all businesses believe they are not big enough for even a basic business website. However, this is far from the truth. No matter what you do and what audience you cater to, it’s important to be online.
Of course, your website is only one aspect of your online image, but it is the most important one. If it’s unappealing and confusing, as many cheaply produced budget websites are, it will deter the majority of your prospects. So here are several tips to make it shine.
Small Business Website Basics
Make It Clear What Exactly You Do
Don’t you find it annoying when you enter a site trying to find concrete information, and all you can see is some vague mumbo-jumbo? This type of copy has become quite popular, but in truth, when someone visits your website, they want to know what you have to offer.
So you should make it clear from the get-go what it is that you do so that potential customers don’t have to dig for the useful info. This is the most basic role your website has to play. Your landing page should tell your prospects exactly what they came to hear.
If you’re selling a product, make it crystal clear how to buy it. If you’re offering services, there should be a simple list of what services you provide and at what the conditions are.
Easily Accessible Contact Info
You can have a killer website, but if you don’t make your contact info clearly visible, people won’t know how to contact you. The average internet user’s attention span is getting shorter by the day, and if your phone or email address doesn’t catch their eye within a couple of seconds, they might be gone for good.
It’s also a good idea to provide as many contact options as possible. A business with a phone number always looks more legitimate than the one which only provides a contact form, for example.
Aside from the street address, email address, and a contact form, you can also include any social media you’re on or where customers can contact you via a messaging app.
Let Customer Testimonials Speak for You
Nothing speaks louder than satisfied and (especially) dissatisfied clients. No one buys anything any more without sifting through online reviews first, so these can make or break you.
So why not jump ahead and make use of positive reviews on your site? If you implement satisfied customers’ testimonials, you’ll let others sing your praises instead of asking potential clients to trust you when you say you’re great.
If you’re new to the game and don’t have any reviews so far, don’t be afraid to ask your customers for them. Many clients who are happy with your product or service will be more than willing to leave a good testimonial.
Have a Chatbot
Chatbots are still not getting as much attention as they should, but they can be the absolute champs of your business growth. Of course, we’ve all stumbled into some annoying bots, but that’s why you should have a professional create a custom one for you.
Implementing an AI chatbot can be the smartest thing you’ll do for your business since they can make you much more easily accessible to prospects.
They can perform a variety of functions — answer FAQs, fill out applications, boost sales, manage loyalty points, file claims, etc. Whatever you do, a smart bot can help you become more time- and cost-efficient at it.
What’s more, your customers will love it since they can get instant assistance without any hassle.
Make Your Site SEO-Friendly
You can have the most beautifully designed, informative, and attractive website in the world, but if Google doesn’t see it, no one will. In other words, you need to optimize your site for SEO, i.e., you want to appear high in search results.
You don’t need to be an SEO expert to optimize your site for search results. The basic fundamentals of SEO are simple to include in your website. Implementing the right keywords, having a variety of relevant content (blog, videos, photos, etc.), and naming your pages and images correctly are some easy methods to make your site come alive.
If you want to take it a step further, you can always hire an SEO expert or read up on various SEO techniques and try them out yourself.
Don’t Forget a Call to Action
As we’ve said at the beginning of the article, you should make it clear what you offer. Likewise, you should also make it clear what you want your customers to do once they find themselves on your business website.
For instance, you can urge them to call you now for a free quote or sign up for special offers. Tell your clients what you want them to do explicitly and boldly.
Try to make your call to action pop as much as it can from the page. You can use striking colours, a unique design, or a different font — anything you need to draw the eye to where you want it.
About the author:
This article about website basics is a guest post by Michael Deane, one of the editors of Qeedle, a small business magazine. Michael has been working in marketing for almost a decade and has worked with a huge range of clients, which has made him knowledgeable on many different subjects. He has recently rediscovered a passion for writing and hopes to make it a daily habit. You can read more of Michael’s work over at Qeedle.