The internet is full of bad websites – old websites that need to be updated and new websites that are poorly planned and designed alike. With the growing prominence of do-it-yourself website builders like Wix, Weebly, and GoDaddy, the temptation is there for business owners to roll up their sleeves and put together a website in their spare time. This doesn’t always lead to the best results.
A good website design is thoroughly planned. The design needs to reflect your brand of course, but it also needs to be user friendly and include some essential items to help your customers decide to engage with you to enquire about your products and services or make a purchase.
In this post, we’ll discuss the essentials of a well-built website that will help you effectively do business.
A Clear Description of Your Business
We like to describe your website as your 24/7, always ready to go online salesperson. For most businesses, your website’s job is to quickly engage with your site visitors so they can understand exactly what you do, who you serve, and let them know if they are in the right spot.
But your website isn’t a human, and your visitors are there by themselves. That means if they can’t figure out what you do and what you offer they’ll quickly leave and look for another site – potentially your competition’s.
Your site needs to be clear, concise, and engaging. Get your best content to them upfront so they stick around and get to know you, and hopefully contact you!
Have an Obvious Call to Action
There is little room for subtlety and nuance on your website. If you don’t give an obvious next step for your site visitors to take they will likely just leave without converting in a meaningful way for your business.
If you want people to contact you for a quote or to give you a call – have a clear call to action that states something as obvious as “Get a Free Quote” on a button or form that stands out.
Depending on your business model you could also offer coupons for signing up to your newsletter, have a chat feature to answer any questions, or something else. The main point is that you have to help people move in the right direction.
Easy Navigation Through Your Site
Have you ever been to a website where you can’t find the information you are looking for? It’s frustrating, isn’t it?
Your site visitors shouldn’t have to work to find what they are looking for. Having a clear navigation menu, links in the appropriate places, and buttons to fill the gaps, helps your customers find what they are looking for and in turn get the information they need to do business with you.
A well-organized navigation menu should include a drop-down to keep things in order. A top-level “Services” menu item with a drop-down listing all of your services pages is easy and at this point expected from your visitors.
Take a look at your site with fresh eyes – are things organized well and easy to find? Be honest with yourself, and make updates to your navigation if required.
Contact Information
Make it easy. Seriously, your contact information should be really easy to find on your website if you want people to get in touch. In fact, your contact page is likely the most important page on your website.
When we analyze our websites using heat mapping and analytics, there is always one item that stands out. A lot of users visit your website simply because they want to find your contact information.
Standard practice is to place your contact information in two places – a button on the right side of your navigation menu that takes you to the contact page, and your quick contact details in the footer of your website. The footer information should include your business name, address, phone number, and email address.
The contact page content will be determined by your business model. Do you need people to find your location – include a map. Do you want them to get in touch for a quote – include a form. And by all means, include several points of contact like social media, phone, email, forms, etc. The customer is in control of their communications so be sure to make it easy for them.
Customer Testimonials
Nothing helps you gain the trust of potential customers like having your current customers say good things about you. Let’s be honest, your website is just another place on the internet. But when real-life customers are sharing the experience they’ve had with you it makes it real.
Trust is key for online transactions, and not having a well-placed testimonial is a missed opportunity. Your homepage should have a testimonial or two, as could your product pages. Feel free to cherry-pick your best testimonials from your Google Reviews or simply ask your best customers to provide one for you. Either way, your website will benefit from them.
If there is one takeaway for business owners it is that your website needs to help your customers decide to engage with you. Every time someone visits your site there is an opportunity for business growth, so take a look at your site and ensure that you are giving yourself the best odds.
Let us know if you need a hand, we’d be happy to give your site a quick audit and discuss how to convert more business online – just book a call.
