In this day and age, every small business needs a great website to attract qualified leads and remain competitive. A good website will ensure you can communicate and promote your product or services in a more efficient and convenient way.
In the old days, you could get away by placing an ad on the yellow pages to gain new customers and get the name of your business out there.
Times have changed… Think about it, if you want to look for a specific product or business, do you google it or do you look up the business on yellow pages or any traditional business directory?
I think you will agree with me that today’s customers will be more inclined to turn to the internet to look for solutions. Whether that’s on their computer at home, or at work, or even as increasingly common, on their phone while commuting to their daily business.
Unfortunately, many small businesses still have outdated website designs or are not able to provide their visitors with the information that they need. Consumers utilize the websites to make informed decisions about products, services that they plan on purchasing.
If your website fails to provide that information, then you may risk wasting money and time on your online marketing strategy.
Give your business a pick-me-up…Contact us for a website that delivers!
Below are some tips to consider for effective website design:
1) Mobile-Friendly Website Design
A mobile-friendly website is one that correctly displays on mobile devices such as your iPhone, Android as well as your iPads and tablets.
Without a mobile-friendly website design, your visitors may find it really hard to navigate your site, hence increasing your bounce rate and leaving your website to find the information they need elsewhere.
In addition, your search rankings may suffer as Google announced back in 2015 that it penalises websites that do not include mobile-friendly designs.
If you have less organic traffic from search queries, fewer people can visit your website and make matters worse, those who do visit your website may leave without performing any action.
To check the speed of your site you can try this link https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Today it is estimated that 75% of the internet searches are done via mobiles, tablets, and laptops. That’s why it’s not enough to just have a website, but you also need to ensure it has a responsive design. Also, studies show that by the end of 2020 it is estimated that 90% of the world population will have a smartphone. This trend shows that the online market will continue to become more dependent on mobile technology.
Believe it or not, many mobile users will not put the time or effort to browse and scroll a website that isn’t adequate for a smartphone. And why should they? Odds are that they can easily go back to the search results and go to one of your competitors who does make it easier for them to navigate.
Our solution to this is that we provide a web design that functions equally well across all of your devices (mobile, tablet or desktop), so it looks its best and is easy to navigate for any visitor.
2) Content
Your web pages should contain relevant and quality content to properly engage your visitors. You may have heard before the saying, “content is king” as this is one of the key factors that Google considers when ranking a website on its front page.
Consistently creating great content will enhance your reputation as an authoritative on your niche and attract more visitors to your website
A few tips to always keep in mind:
- Aim to write in a conversational manner; avoid any complicated technical jargon to impress your readers
- Ensure to verify the accuracy of your data and check that your sources are reputable
- Always write with your target audience in mind; they should like your content, find it useful and answer their queries
- Avoid plagariasim at all costs as Google will penalise you for this
- Avoid including large blocks of text; include short paragraphs so that it’s easy to read and scan through
- Include attractive headlines and subheadings as they play a major role in attracting your visitors to engage with your site and take massive action.
Always ensure to keep it simple and to the point. The whole purpose is to convert your audience to customers that want to engage with you.
3) Use Web Analytics
Web analytics allows you to have live data to assess the performance of your website and your online marketing strategies. One of the most effective tools to utilize is Google Analytics.
Tracking your website will enable you to understand what is working and what is not. It will show you which are the specific pages your visitors are engaging more and may provide you a more holistic picture of the areas to focus on improvement.
Some of the key items to track are:
- Which pages have the highest/lowest conversion or bounce rates
- The amount of traffic you are getting and the quality and source of that traffic
- Determining the proportion of new visitors vs old visitors to customize your content to a specific target audience
Ultimately tracking your website will provide very useful information that will allow you to tailor your content, improve your UX and general interaction with your visitors, hence driving up the traffic and leads.
4) Call to- Action
It is imperative that your visitors understand what they need to do once they land on your website.
A call to action (cta) is usually a short line or text that directs your visitors to act now. You may want your visitors to sign up to a mailing list or newsletter, or contact your business.
A rule of thumb is to at least include your contact details and phone number at least 3 times on your home page and typically on the top right end of the site.
Usually, CTAs linked to contact forms or buy now buttons, but they can also link to more in depths articles or pages to provide further information on certain products or services.
Always remember that you should put yourself on your visitors’ shoes and make it easier for them. Believe it or not, a lot of website designers get it wrong on this item which directly impacts the traffic and conversion percentages.
5) Optimise the overall user experience
In order to improve your user experience (UX), apart from having a responsive website you should focus on having a clean design with minimal clutter.
Including too many sliders or big images end up distracting your visitors and confusing them leading them to not take any action at all. Simplicity works better in the online world.
A key element that you should always consider when designing your website is to apply the five-second rule, which in essence implies the following items:
- In 5 seconds it should be clear:
- What the website is about?
- What problem you are solving
- What services you offer
- What a visitor should do
Also, having a clear menu structure improves the navigation experience for the end-user. It’s always a good practice to have clear and simple titles that follow a hierarchy so that your visitors can easily and quickly find the information they are after.
When your visitors obtain the information they are after and have a good experience on your site, that improves your reputation, your site becomes trustworthy and authoritative in your niche, consequently increasing your visitors and converting them into qualified leads.
In addition, your website should load fast that’s why its crucial to optimise your web pages to ensure your content pops up quickly.
Give your business a pick-me-up…Contact us for a website that delivers!
