Place strategic calls to action. CTA buttons tend to perform best when they match the information on the page. For example, a “buy now” button makes sense on a product page, but a “contact us to learn more” button might be more appropriate on the “about us” page. Similarly, a page listing customer reviews might have a button that takes the reader to the available plans and pricing. Automate speed improvements. Set up as many automated speed improvements as you can. If you use a content management system (CMS), installing the right plugins will cache parts of your site so visitors don’t need to download anything more than once. For WordPress users, Zalewski recommended WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache, which compresses files and allows visitors to browse your site more quickly. Some of the more technical aspects of caching and compressing files may require a web development partner if you’re not particularly tech savvy. Avoid stock photos. Tacky stock photography is the quickest way to turn a great site into a mediocre one. If you’re looking for photos to use on your page, it’s best to use a picture of your actual team or office. Pheil added that high-quality images of the products increase sales, so invest in good photos of the products or services you sell.
TipTip: Build informative and engaging web pages that offer a positive user experience. Strategically place CTAs to encourage users to engage in specific behaviors. Set up your payment system (if applicable). While this step won’t apply to all business websites, companies that want to offer the option for customers to pay online will need to integrate electronic payment systems with their websites. The easiest way to do this is through e-commerce software or small business credit card processing solutions. Many web hosts offer an in-house shopping cart or integration with e-commerce programs. Do some research to make sure you get a solution that’s easy to work with and flexible enough to meet your needs now and in the future.
Did you know?Did you know? E-commerce businesses need to make payment processing available on their sites, whether through their e-commerce software or a third-party processor. Test and publish your website. Before announcing that your site is live on the web, make sure it works on all major browsers, like Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Safari and Chrome. Click through each page and feature on every browser to ensure images show up, links are correct and the format looks smooth. This will take some time, but the effort you put in now will save you future complaints from visitors who can’t access certain features. Also, make sure that your website displays properly on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This step should not be overlooked, as Google and other search engines have migrated to mobile-first indexing, which prioritizes the performance of the mobile version of your website when it comes to search engine rankings. Another important feature to incorporate from the very beginning is an analytics program. By setting this up before the website is live, you can iron out any issues and coordinate a proper setup, Shaoolian said. Once the website is live, you can monitor page performance and determine why a certain page is successful or unsuccessful based on your analytics.
“You can look at which of your marketing campaigns are showing the most conversions, and examine any metrics such as city, browser, etc. to shed some light on how your audience is interacting with your site,” Shaoolian said. “If you … implement this [after] the site goes live, you’ll miss out on valuable data and have no way of seeing which elements of your site are successful or unsuccessful right from the start.” Market your website on social media. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest is the best way to increase your audience reach and alert customers to what’s going on with your company. Whenever you update your website, post about it on your social media outlets, but balance that with genuine, nonpromotional engagement. Also include links to your social media on your website. The most common places to do this are the footer or the ancillary bar (the extra menu in the top right that often holds login or contact links). Learn more about social media for business in our marketer’s guide. Invest in search engine optimization (SEO).
Submitting your website to major search engines will help direct potential leads to your page, as will deploying a strong SEO strategy across your site. Shaoolian said that defining title tags, meta descriptions, and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) that are relevant to your company and aspects of your industry can boost your rankings in search engines for the products or services you’re trying to market. “Building relevant keywords into your content from the very first phases of your website, and having a strong focus on SEO from website launch, will help you generate traffic early on,” he said. As you build your business website, these important on-site SEO tactics can help you improve your ability to move up the ranks. (There are also off-site SEO tactics you can pursue). Choose the right keywords. Select keywords that are relevant to your business and that your potential customers are searching for online. Visit our guide to SEO small business tools to find a solution that can help you identify, analyze and track these keywords.
Publish fresh content. Regularly publishing on a blog, adding to your website and updating your content all signal to search engines that your site is relevant for the chosen keywords. Choose topics that are relevant to your business and exciting for your industry to position yourself and your business as thought leaders in the space. Place internal and external links. Internal links are the links on your website pages that lead to other pages on your site, while external links are your links to other popular, high-authority websites. Place these links strategically throughout your website. Make sure that the links make sense, fit the context and provide value to the reader; otherwise, linking may count against you. Optimize images. Compress images so they don’t slow down your site’s loading time. Take the same approach with video, making sure that any clips load quickly and don’t slow down how your site moves overall. Images’ metadata, such as tags and captions, is also an opportunity to work in your keywords and tell search engines what the images are about. Maximize your site speed. Pages should load as quickly as possible; within a few seconds is ideal. You can use free site speed checkers such as Google’s PageSpeed Insights to see if your site is performing optimally.
Maintain your site. Staying relevant is important, so update your website frequently with blog posts on current industry events, new products and offers, and company news to keep visitors coming back to the site. You should also check at least monthly to ensure your software and all add-ons are up to date. Pheil said that if your software is not up to date, it’s in danger of being hacked, even if your website host’s security is strong. If you don’t have time to do this yourself, delegate the task to a trusted employee or a freelance website manager. Starting a website for your business is a low-cost investment that can help you establish credibility and reach a wider customer base than you ever could through traditional marketing techniques. If you keep your website updated with fresh, current content and are quick to address technical issues, you’ll never have to worry about “not existing” to your current and future clients.
Key takeawayKey takeaway: Keep your site up to date with fresh content and timely information to ensure it remains professional and top of mind for your audience. Business website FAQs How much does a business website cost? According to research by Mark Brinker, the average cost of a small business website ranges from $4,000 to $10,000. The reason for such a wide range has to do with the type of business involved and the amount of work the business owner is willing to do. The difference between taking your own pictures and hiring a photographer can be a few hundred dollars. The same can be said for professional copywriting for web content and so on. How long does it take to create a business website? Website creation can range from days to months, but if you’re looking for an average, we can turn to DreamHost, a leading web host provider for small businesses, and they say the typical website building process runs between two and four months.
What should you include on your website? Every business should include pertinent information like who you are, what you do and how you can be contacted? Your site should also include the products or services you sell, along with an easy way for customers to make purchases online. Businesses may want to include mission statements, reviews, testimonials and a regularly updated blog that provides valuable information regarding the company and industry. Nicole Fallon and Stella Morrison contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. Your website should be designed keeping in mind your audience and should ensure that it improves user experience. Your website is one of the most important aspects of your brand’s online presence and it's important that you design it right. Your website is also the place where you nurture your bottom-of-the-funnel leads to get conversions. So, you can’t afford any website fails that might cause your prospects to bounce off your website.
Your website should be designed keeping in mind your audience and should ensure that it provides good user experience. There are a lot of other benefits of a good website design for both your business and your audience. In this post, we will discuss why good website design is important from your audience’s perspective. Sign up for Free membership Brand image Your website is a reflection of your brand and everything that it stands for. It is usually one of the first things people look at to get to know a brand and therefore helps form the first impression. Your website design elements, like colours, fonts, images, etc. all form your brand identity. Therefore, you need to select those elements carefully and keep them consistent across your website.
Look at the screenshot of Coca Cola’s homepage, for example. Coca Cola's homepage See how the brand has used the company’s distinctive red colour on a white background. Red and white are the colours of the company’s logo, packaging of their traditional coke bottles, and a lot of other brand elements. It maintains this consistency because these two distinctive colours represent the brand and people associate these with the company. Here are some of the web design elements that you should select carefully and then use consistently. Colour If you already have some brand colours that align with your logo and other brand identity elements, then you should use those on your website as well. However, if you’re starting from scratch, then you can use this study to understand colour associations.
For example, if you want to associate your brand with trust, then you should use the colour blue. And, if you want consumers to think that your brand produces high-quality products, then the colour black can help you form that image. Similarly, depending on what brand associations you want to form, you can select your brand colours. You can then select colours that evoke certain emotions or thoughts in people. For example, blue is the colour most associated with trust and black with quality. Layout As a rule of thumb, keep your layout simple, clean, and designed in a way that draws attention to the most important parts. Also, the number of menu options or the elements in a drop-down menu should be determined based on your audience preferences. You can experiment with a few different layouts and conduct split testing to understand what works best with your audience. One of the best examples of cluttered website design and how it affects usability is shown below. The website is very difficult to navigate and the lack of a grid design makes it messy and chaotic.
Arngrn website Now, let’s compare it with another website with a cleaner layout to see how it could have been structured instead. This website also focuses on the products and services but has organized the various web elements well. The use of a grid format further adds structure to the page. Concrete LCDA Fonts and typography The general rule for selecting a font is that it should be easy-to-read and clearly visible on the background colour that you selected. The actual selection, however, should depend on your audience. Younger people, for example, often prefer more fun and stylish fonts. Older people might prefer clean and simple ones that are easier to read. Your font should also reflect your brand personality and whether you want to look professional or fun and youthful.
Here’s an example of a brand that does this well by their use of a creative font to reflect their own creativity. Laura Worthington Design Website accessibility You should design your website in a way that makes it accessible to all. It will not only make the experience better for your audience but is also required by law. This means designing your website so that people with disabilities can also access it. This is, however, easier said than done. Most website designers and agencies are not even aware of this, let alone able to design an accessible website. So, whether you build your website yourself or use a web design agency, make sure that you design an accessible website. While this can be extremely challenging, you can make the most of solutions like accessiBe to simplify the whole process. The company provides you with a code, which you can install so your website will instantly display an accessible interface.
The accessiBe AI also scans and analyzes your website to ensure that it complies with all accessibility-related laws (ADA, WCAG, Section 508) in just 48 hours. This will help you avoid any accessibility-related lawsuits, (yes that’s a thing), and include a larger number of people in your audience. 10 common website customer experience mistakes guide Download our Free Resource – 10 common website customer experience mistakes This guide reveals examples of poor website design from different sectors which are commonly seen, but best avoided. Access the 10 common website customer experience mistakes guide Site navigation One of the biggest benefits of a good website design for your audience is that it can help them navigate the site easily.
The ultimate goal of anyone visiting your website is to quickly find the information that they are looking for. And, your website design should make that process easier and help visitors navigate your website without getting lost. The more user-friendly your website is, the more likely it is that people will engage with your content and take the desired action. A good website design should aim to provide the best user experience, which ultimately translates into conversions. Airbnb, for example, has a very simple, yet engaging website design where you can find everything right from the homepage. Whether you want to make a booking or explore the different types of accommodations and experiences provided by Airbnb, you will find an option on the homepage.
Airbnb As you scroll down the page, you will find more options to explore. From top-rated Airbnb stays to travel recommendations, you have it all. Airbnb recommendations So, if you know where you want to go, you can simply make a booking from the top of the page. If you’re just exploring your options, you can simply browse through and get inspiration for your next trip. See how brilliant that strategy is? Airbnb does not just make it easy for people to book stays but also encourages them to plan a trip if they’re not yet sure. And, all of that can be done right from the homepage. No messy drop-down menus, no page hierarchies, just a clean and simple all-you-need-to-know-you-find-it-here kind of design.
Website design is an important matter and should not be taken lightly. A well-designed website can help you form a good impression on your prospective customers. It can also help you nurture your leads and get more conversions. But, more importantly, it provides good user experience and helps your website visitors access and navigate your website with ease. So, if you are looking for designers to create your website, vet them well and ensure that they are capable of designing user-friendly and accessible websites. If you already have a website, you can always conduct a site audit and optimize it to provide a better user experience and to improve accessibility. When it seems that social media rule the Internet, you might ask yourself, “Do I need a website?” The answer is yes, and I’m here to tell you why. In 2019, 70-80% of people were researching companies online before visiting it/making a purchase, and the same percentage of customers could be lost to small businesses without a website. And when the world suddenly required more online presence than real-life presence the following year, having your own website became even more crucial.
If you’re not convinced yet, and you’re curious about the advantages of websites over social media profiles, read on! Here are five ultimate reasons why you need a website in 202 TABLE OF CONTENTS Having a website makes you look professional and increases trust. Most people don’t trust a business without a good website. A clean, modern page that is regularly updated and pops up in search engines is an instant credibility boost. Potential customers will trust you more and have all the information they need in one place. In a digital age, we expect businesses to have a web presence. Even the smallest local business or organization needs a website–from a simple one page site for a mom and pop shop to a full website for a local church congregation. Anyone can easily create a Facebook page or an Instagram account with fake data, your name/handle, and the profiles may look identical to yours. So, a professional business website legitimizes your company in ways no other social media channels would.
Digital Marketing ExeterAnd if you don’t have a business and you’re considering creating a place for your portfolio, to show off your work, or something that represents yourself to send to recruiters when looking for a job – there’s not a more professional way to stand out from the crowd than having a personal website. Example of a professional-looking website template available in Website Builder Example of a professional-looking website template you can fully customize and launch in minutes with the Website Builder A business website will bring you more customers and increase conversions. Well-optimized websites can pop up on the first page of Google search attracting new customers that weren’t looking specifically for you but were just researching a topic. There’s a much bigger chance of someone ‘stumbling upon’ your website than a social media profile. Also, comparing you and any competing business or offer is easier when all the parties involved have a pro website. If you invest in Google Ads or Facebook Ads, you can direct the traffic straightway to your website. On the page, your leads will have all the details to make an informed purchase, and a call-to-action to motivate them. Pages with built-in popup forms and web push notifications encourage website visitors to stay in touch and come back. Adding contact forms and chats to a website. Adding contact forms and a live chat to a website. A website is available 24/7, every day of the year, from anywhere around the globe – that makes your business stay on customer’s minds even after business hours. Websites broaden your reach, and promote you without a break.
Creating your own website is much easier and less expensive than you expect. If you believe that to create a stunning website, you need to be a tech-savvy expert of web design, or have a team of engineers and a professional web designer on speed dial – I’m happy to say – you’re wrong! Creating websites has never been easier, and there’s no coding required. If you choose a website builder, like the one from , you can choose a domain (which will be registered and configured for you), pick a professionally designed, mobile-friendly, and device-optimized website template that suits your needs, and head to a drag-and-drop editor. All you need to have beforehand is good copy. But wait, there’s an even easier way. You can use AI to create an amazing website in an instant! You answer a few simple questions about your needs, and you have an AI-created personalized website. All for free.
CREATE A FREE WEBSITE Or try our AI builder here. As for the costs, if you choose , you can have a website along with essential email marketing features, all completely free. Plus, you get limited-time access to our premium features such as automation, autoresponders, funnels, chats, and more for as little as $15 a month. Learn How to Build a Website from Scratch in 9 Easy Steps. A website gives you full control over the medium. There are two sides to this reason. The first is your freedom of expression on a website. You can’t customize your social media presence to the same extent. All your assets have to be the same format as everybody else’s. If you really want to stand out, a website is the answer. The absolute design freedom gives you an opportunity to present your brand in a unique way and showcase its voice and personality. The control over your image on a webpage isn’t only about the graphics and layout. You decide what to put out there, so if you have any cool online reviews, customer testimonials, videos, etc., they can all share the space on your site.
