We live in an era where technology rules. From the way we order lunch at our favorite fast food restaurant to complex medical devices that sustain life, technology thrusts us forward day after day. When it comes to the success of your small business, technology’s role can’t be taken lightly. Consumers have the world at their fingertips and along with that comes a certain expectation from businesses. A website is often a customer’s first impression of any company.
Creating a page that’s informative yet user-friendly can make all the difference in your small business’s success story.
Make It Attractive Yet Informative
The challenge of any website is finding the balance between making it attractive but also informative. Having a site that catches the eye is great, but if it doesn’t offer the viewer the information they’re looking for, it’s useless. Good looks only go so far.
Small businesses typically have less than a dozen pages total on their website. The most important of these is by far the homepage. It’s the place that viewers see first and they often don’t get past this welcome screen. It can be tempting to jam-pack the homepage with tons of information but in this instance, less is more.
What are the most important things you want your customers to know?
What’s the tone of voice you want your business to have? Keep in mind that most website viewers read about one-quarter of the text on a page. The more you can entice people to keep reading, the better chance you have of conversions. Also, remember that the tone of voice you use in your wording speaks to the overall feel of your business’s identity. Make sure people know who you are the second they see your homepage.
Design With SEO In Mind
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is crucial. Higher search engine rankings translate to more traffic to your site. More traffic means more exposure and more exposure means more sales.
You get the idea. SEO can make or break you, especially if your business relies on website traffic for leads or sales.
SEO can be tricky so hiring a professional may be your best bet. The upfront cost of having a professional can be a bit daunting but consider the long-term effects. The cost is a small price to pay when considering the potential profits from website traffic that you’d be missing out on otherwise.
Choose A Memorable Domain
What’s in a name? When it comes to domains, it’s a whole lot! Most businesses try to stick with their business name for a domain but that’s not always available. If you’re feeling up to it, you can always change the name of your business to something that has an available domain. Of course, it’s not always reasonable to change an entire business name just for a web domain.
If you have to get creative to claim your bit of internet identity, try to choose something that may be a play on your business itself. Something catchy and easy to remember is best. The more it
sticks in a customer’s memory, the greater chance you have of them returning to your site and remembering it to tell their friends and family.
Be Organized
A chaotic website gives the impression of a chaotic business. If the homepage is a mess, it tells customers that dealing with your company may be a bit sloppy also. Organizing information makes the experience better for everyone involved. Everyone likes a well-oiled machine!
In addition to your homepage, go ahead and implement additional pages or buttons to give customers quick access to the most commonly needed information.
A “Contact” page, “Services” or “Products” page and an “About Us” page are a good foundation. Once you have those established you can expand your site to fit your needs.
Optimization For Mobile Users
Most people have a smartphone or tablet nowadays. These portable, on-the-go devices can do just about anything a traditional computer can do, but their small screens require a bit of planning when it comes to web development. It’s reasonable to assume that the majority of your users will be viewing your site from a smartphone or tablet. Their ever-expanding popularity and capability means that your small business’s website needs to cater to their needs.
Most website platforms offer the option to preview a site as a mobile user would see it. Large pictures, lots of words and certain color combinations may not translate well to a mobile device’s much smaller screen. Information text input boxes and dropdown menus are notorious for being a pain to access from a mobile device. Users can get frustrated by the incompatibility and quickly move on to the next option, which may be your competition.
Try out different web designs and see what works best. When in doubt, seek a professional’s opinion.
