Today, even the smallest firms are required to conduct some business online, whether it is an e-commerce store you own or a requirement to allow online bookings. Having a website has become essential. After all, you can’t have an online presence if your business doesn’t have a website.
Here we have these statistics that vouch for the same. In the year 2017, nine percent of total United States retail sales came from online, and it is forecasted that the number will grow by 12.4% by the year 2020. Keep the fact in mind that most of businesses invest heavily in online presence, hence it is vital for small businesses to contend with the big names for a share of the online market.
Why having a great Website is the key to your business success
Having a website is one of the most crucial elements of your small business. As you can use this medium in a positive way to lure potential clients or may end up turning them away for good. Often it happens that small business owners have no idea about what really makes a potential website. However, with several pieces of research claiming that a large number of consumers head to the internet to seek business information, it is crucial to have an online presence.
Guidelines to build a business website
To help you in creating a great online platform for your small-scale business, here we have present a few guidelines that you must abide by in order to build a spectacular business website.
Decide your objectives
Before you start with the development work for the website of your small business, decide your business objectives and keep them in mind all through the development process. This would help you to stay focused and provide the necessary information, generate leads and increase sales.
Pay attention to visual design
Intriguing visuals are integral in order to convey the real value of your content and captivate the attention of users. Often it is also helpful to explain the complicated concepts. As humans, we are attracted to visuals, like drawings, images and tend to retain information from them a lot longer. However don’t just go for alluring images, as they must be relevant to your content as well, or users will just ignore them. Pictures chosen by you should show your product usage and captivate the attention of the users. While deciding on the visual presentation of your website ensure that:
- Product picture is highlighted
- High-quality images are used
- Images show the goal of your product or service
- The main picture is displayed on the homepage
- Images are integrated into your design
- Product visual interface design is enhanced
Mobile Friendly
It was on March 26, 2018, that Google officials made an announcement about mobile-friendly updates. The update penalizes the websites that are not mobile-friendly. The current situation is that people can hardly imagine their lives without mobile phones. They do most things on mobile and head to desktops and laptops only for work purposes. So, when the users visit your website on their smartphone, they expect to view the content just as they would on a desktop or a laptop. For this, a high-quality user experience is required. Hence, responsive design is the need for every website.
Navigate easily
As a business, you must expect your users to experience complex navigation just to explore your website. This is why bad navigation is a killer. Complicated navigation often ends up irritating the users as they are constantly struggling with the website just in order to find useful information they are looking for. So, while planning a website for small businesses, do make sure that your navigation plan is smooth and quick.
Avoid the clutter
Putting in too much information altogether is not the answer as that would make the website look cluttered and put off the viewers. In order to make a website look professional, you must how you optimize the space well and make users understand your business in the most uncomplicated manner. Make good use of white spaces and place the crucial information, in a way that it doesn’t make the website appear cluttered.
Unique web design
A website is a reflection of your brand, so ensure that you make a lasting impression on your customers with it. Like if your website ends up looking just like others, viewers may lose interest soon. So, while ensure that you keep the look and feel unique and fresh. After all, often the first impression is the last impression.
Easily accessible
Some of your small business website viewers could be dealing with color blindness or some may struggle with poor internet connectivity. Thus, to please these viewers you should make the website easily accessible as that way you would be able to cater to the potential clients well.
Right usage of White Space
With the help of white space, you would be able to create a balanced layout and show the elemental effects, thus attracting more user attention. Whereas with poor website layout, users struggle to understand what the website wants to convey. Thus, always make it a point to offer enough space between the words and segments. This makes the reading and understanding process easier and exciting for the users. At the same time, it also limits the number of design elements. Like when there are a lot many design elements, the user will be distracted. With the right usage of white spaces, the user will be able to find the information much quicker.
Display products & services clearly
For any small business website, it is important to efficiently present the products and services. In case, a website fails to display the products effectively, then it kills the entire purpose and your small business will have to bear the brunt. This is why make sure that the pictures and graphics of your products and services are clear and appropriate and that they instantly attract the attention of your viewers.
Use calls-to-action
While creating a web design for your business, you need to be extra clear over what you want your visitors to do on your website. Every web page must have a call-to-action that entices your visitors to signup the newsletter, buy a service or a product, download a material, or contact you. As a business, you should aim to persuade the visitors to do a specific call-to-action, so for that include a call-to-action link or a button. Simply ensure that the call-to-action is easy to find for the viewers.
Search Engine Optimization
Often the small business owners make the mistake of not using Search Engine Optimization (SEO). They usually have no idea about what it is and how it works. But today’s times, it comes across as the most successful marketing weapon. The robust SEO strategies are significant to help your business drive more traffic and thus get more customers to the websites. What SEO does is that it makes your website more visible, as it ups it in the search engine results on Google. After all, what is the use of a good website if people are unable to find it With the help of a marketing firm or SEO consultant, you can get your web strategy assessed and identify the keywords that you would like your website to rank for.
Content Marketing
Hiring a web developer is not enough, as without great content it is a flop show. Hence, it is required to have a good content strategy in place. These days, in fact, the content market is dominating the marketing industry and every firm is rushing for the quality content. Thus, it gets necessary for the web developers to focus on the content while creating a website so as to offer best-in-class services. Additionally, content marketing is a valuable, relevant and consistent approach towards growth and stability.
Also, Read – Best Web Developers in the United States
Re-targeting
In the case of budget constraints, you can begin with the search intent re-targeting on AdWords. It is the safest approach to Re-target, as the traffic is already there on the website and this means your business has established itself. In addition to that, most people won’t convert immediately after they land on your website. Mostly they shop around. Thus, search intent re-targeting is a cost-effective means to stay on top of their minds as they Google the other options.
Conclusion
It is nothing less than challenging to make a good website for a small business. You would need to follow a lot of strategies in order to create an enticing website for your business. It is wise to get a website development firm on board, as they are well-versed of the requirements of the web development and thus will help your business reach your target audience, improve conversions and lead more sales for your business.
