A business website can be an invaluable tool for many businesses and industries. While these websites were once relegated to larger businesses, it’s now beneficial for even relatively small businesses and startups to invest in a business website.
This is because people like to shop and research online. An online presence validates your business, even if the actual business takes place in person. A website can act as a portfolio, a marketing tool, a point of contact, and even a full store.
The trick is to make sure that your website is actually effective and attracts and keeps visitors and potential customers. Here are a few tips to help you out.
UI and Design
Every great business website starts with a great design. One common mistake that people can make is to focus far too much on a unique and memorable design that nobody has seen before. If your UI is completely unique, people will definitely remember it. But they will remember it as an incredibly annoying website that they couldn’t navigate properly.
Beautiful design has a place, but practical design is even more important. There is a reason why most websites use the same UI shortcuts, and it’s not just because it’s lazy. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
People want to be able to easily see what a website has to offer. They don’t need to relearn how to walk just to find something in your online store. Drop down menus are a great option, and make sure to add a working search bar so people can easily find specific things that they want.
Smooth Hosting
As well as designing a website that’s easy to navigate, you also want a website that is enjoyable to use. Yes, good design comes into this, but so does the hosting system.
There are a few different ways to get a hosting service for your website. The most important thing is that the host is able to handle the amount of traffic you want, and ideally more than you expect so it still functions at peak times.
This means that your website won’t suddenly slow down while people are trying to use it.
Some website builders allow you to design a website, while also offering a hosting service and a domain name. This is probably the easiest answer and, to be honest, you can get a great website up and running in no time this way.
But you can also get a separate website hosting service. Make sure that the service doesn’t just accommodate the amount of visitors, but also the type of website you have. If there are different price points, look at what the service offers and what the reviews are.
Blog Posts and SEO Marketing
More visitors typically mean more potential customers, whether you are using your website as a portfolio or an online shop.
One great way to get more visitors is to make sure that you have an effective blog. A blog can be a fantastic source of SEO marketing.
Blogs and other content like videos attract the attention of search engines, especially if you use keywords that people are likely to search for and that are related to your niche. A website with a lot of backlinks will also be a more effective marketing tool.
Another way to make sure that your website is more effective for marketing is to link it to your social media. Social media is an incredibly effective marketing tool. After all, marketing is all about making your business as visible as possible.
Easy Checkouts
Customers value a lot of things, including the price and quality of their product. But they also want a more convenient experience. If people find it difficult or annoying to actually buy a product, they're far more likely to just abandon it even if it's something they wanted to buy. This leads to a phenomenon called abandoned shopping carts or baskets, and if you have a lot of them, it's a sign that there's a problem with your payment system rather than the product itself.
If you use advanced payment processing tools, you can personalize your checkout process to make sure that it's convenient for your company and the customer alike.
Even better, these tools are more secure, meaning that your customers can feel rest assured that their credit card details are safe from potential hackers and criminals.
