10 Tips for Building a Business Website that actually WORKS!

An online presence is vital for all businesses in the 21st century. From your local greengrocer (yes, they still do exist) to the big online power-houses like Amazon.

Chances are, if you’re looking for something to buy, you’ll either look online or use google to find the closest store to you geographically. Companies with zero online presence are ultimately likely to fail.

Creating a website is pretty straight forward. You have two options. You can get an expert, *cough* that’s us *cough, to do it or you can use a site and have a go yourself.

1. Make your site mobile responsive.

   According to ons.gov.uk 89% of adults in Great Britain used the internet at least weekly in 2018, up from 88% in 2017 and 51% in 2006. That’s a massive audience you could gain access to IF your site is mobile responsive, and easy to use for your potential buyer. In 2016 Outerbox reports showed that 40 percent of consumers will go to a competitor if they have a bad experience with a mobile website.

2. Make it easy to find.

   You need to make it easy for your customers to not only find you but to remember your name. You could buy / make one single website that various domain names are forwarded to. If your bran, or if you, are known by several names this is an easy way to make sure you are covering all angles.

3. Place your contact information above the fold.

   If your business depends on people being able to contact you or call your team, put that information where they can find it easily. Your contact information doesn’t need to be hidden away on your ‘Contact Us’ page. You can have your telephone number and social media links on EVERY page. These are easily placed in the header or footer of all of your website pages.

4. Make it easy to navigate.

   Keeping things simple is key to keeping people interested. Throwing 100’s of different options at people from your homepage isn’t going to keep people interested. Your top-level navigation bar should have 5-6 main options when possible. These should either take you straight to a new page or give you a dropdown list to choose from.Having pop-ups on every page will only annoy any potential buyers, so make them minimal and make them count!

   Ensuring your visitor always has a quick route back to the home page is vital. They may want to keep looking on your site and this is the most likely way you can keep them active. Usually people will enable their logo / page header to be clicked or a small house icon is placed in the top-level navigation bar.

5. Keep your pages uncluttered.

   Whilst navigation is important, you want people to understand the page you land on immediately. Keep the page clear and uncluttered. You don’t need pictures every 3 lines, forms on every page or lots going on. Just look at the Apple website, they are the masters of simplicity.

6. Make sure it’s accurate.

   It should go without saying that inaccurate information will turn off consumers, whether it’s a wrong number, outdated product information or simple grammatical errors. Not only should you proofread each page before it goes live, but you should periodically check each page, especially after making updates anywhere else on your site.If you are the person updating the information then get someone else to cast an eye over the final page or site before you click ‘publish’. It’ll save you any embarrassing moments later on.

7. Respect the need for speed.

   People have a negative association with brands that have buggy websites and apps. How many times have you given up with a site that was clunky to use or slow to load?You do not want to risk losing potential customers to your competitors just because your website was slow.

   Make sure your website runs smoothly by keeping the software updated, optimizing videos and images for quicker downloads, and using a website host that can handle your bandwidth demands.

8. Have a call to action.

   Every page on your website should encourage the reader to do something – call, sign up for a service, buy a product, read your latest blog. Be sure to have a clear invitation to do just that: a button, a link or form. Keep it above the fold if possible so that readers do not have to scroll before finding the call to action.

9. Keep your design simple.

   Limit the use of fonts, colours and animated gifs, which can distract and pull the eyes away from the focus of the webpage. Short paragraphs and bullet points also make the information easier to read.

   Remember, people are busy and want what they need quickly and in a simple manner.

10. Get personal.

    Just as businesses with a physical store invest heavily in their storefronts to represent their brand images, e-commerce retailers and businesses need to create a similar high-quality online experience in keeping with the brand perception.

So, that’s it! 10 ways you can build a business website that actually works! Simple, right? No? Well, that’s what we’re here for. If you have any questions about your current site or you’d like to build, get in touch.