A good website is not only about the design.
User friendly is much more important than anything else. Inspiring your visitors to move on from the first page of your site is the main goal. The reason why you should opt for a reputed web design company Los Angeles is that their knowledge and experience will help you get a new fresh look and feel of your business and at the same time give your visitors a feeling of trust.
The following paragraphs discuss ten essentials that you as a small business owner need to be sure are part of your website.
1. Introduce yourself clearly
Ease of use is not just about navigation. Readability is just as important. Make sure that the visitors to your website never get confused about where to go next or what your offerings are. As a small business owner, it’s your utmost responsibility to ensure that they do not waste any time while on your site. Clear, concise, and on point. Clearly spell out your name, services and intent. Always remember to include they main point of your business, and contact info on every page of your website.
Be sure that you use heading above every section and or paragraph. Allowing your visitors to briefly scan the page and get a good idea of what the site is about. If you were to only read the titles and headings you should have a good understanding of what the goal of the business is about. (Remember Short & Concise).
2. Easy to find Contact information
Your contact information is an extremely important section on your website. So, make the communication process as user-friendly as possible. Or else, at the end of the day, one of your competitors will stand to gain as a result of your unprofessional behavior. Moreover, as a small business owner, you just simply cannot afford such carelessness.
It’s also important to realize that online visitors often lack the patience and time to click each and every page of a website in order to look for the contact data. Therefore, give a serious thought to the best possible location for your contact information. Consider adding it to the top and bottom. Make it clickable. When on a mobile device having your contact info viewable immediately after the page loads is critical. Then if your phone number is clickable they only need to tap and their phone will autodial. (User friendly is always key).
It would be wise on your part to include various ways to get in touch like contact forms, listed emails, and phone numbers. Also go a bit further by adding your postal address along with a link explaining clearly your location on Google maps.
3. Include customer testimonials
A few honest sentences from previous clients can easily convince a reader about the success your business has created for others. Testimonials also help to portray your business reputation. Most importantly, it helps to build a bond of trust amongst your new customers. At the same time, testimonials help visitors to discover things that are not mentioned in other areas of your website.
4. A well-crafted site map
A good site map along with links directing to all the important web pages, are vital for guiding your potential customers to the data they have been looking for. Also, use dropdowns in your navigation menu. Remember, a little detail like this can go a long way towards creating that everlasting first impression.
5. Keep your web address simple
A domain name often acts like a brand! Therefore, it’s always advisable to keep it simple for the user so that there’s no difficulty at the time of typing it. The preference should always be for a .com domain. This is mainly because most users are habituated to type this domain extension. Not to mention Google tends to rank the .com higher.
In any case, avoid a dash as it can cause a serious SEO headache as well as a number as it can cause a bit of confusion amongst the customers.
6. Knowledge of SEO basics
As a small business owner it becomes all the more important for you to acquire some SEO knowledge. Simply ensure that your website has been coded correctly. This means that there has been the right usage of keywords throughout the text along with presence of sufficient linking. If you also need to make a good effort to understand how to name URLs and page titles. It will serve as a bonus for you when Google crawls your site.
7. A clear Call-To-Action
Tell your online visitors clearly as to what you expect from them. For example, if you wish them to sign up for your specially designed online coupons, then say so in clear BIG terms within your website. Now, always highlight your Call-To-Action and use BIGl buttons.
8. Protect your website data
Make sure to have a reliable hosting company in order to protect your website data. As a small business owner you simply cannot afford to lose customers. Also, take initiatives to keep the content management process of your website updated all the time. This will definitely help you in your fight against the hackers. Install and SSL and even better a firewall.
9. A user friendly style and design
Break your website content into brief paragraphs for easy online scanning. Use headers and sub headers whenever necessary. Highlight key phrases, and keep the tone of the content simple yet engaging. Also, choose the background color of your web pages wisely. To much contrast is hard on the eyes. To little and the text will be drowned-out.
10. Quality content
Finally, there’s still no substitute for quality well written content. Therefore, make your website content fresh and original. Remember, your content should attract customers, and give them some reason or motivation to come back to you again and again. On the other hand, well-written content is good for SEO purposes as well. Best of luck!
