Beyond the looks of your website, there are a whole lot of other things that need to be in place to make it a super website.
The aim of your business being on the web is not just to have a web presence but to: make you more visible, more reachable and boost your sales. Your website must not fail in achieving all of these and that is why I have taken time to write this article.
Here are 10 things your website needs to have to achieve all that it is meant to achieve.
1. An easy to remember and pronounce web address
You want to get this right because it is your first impression. It is the first thing your site visitors notice and should leave a positive and lasting impression. If a visitor stumbles on your website, having an easy to remember domain name makes it easy for them to visit again.
Things to avoid:
i) Avoid using numbers, special characters and underscore as part of your domain name
ii) As much as possible, avoid free hosting that leaves with a subdomain instead of owning your own domain. This creates the impression that you are unserious with your business or probably not fully prepared to launch
iii) Avoid lengthy words. Keep your domain name as simple as possible.
2. Mobile friendly and fasts loading web pages
Over 70% of your website traffic is gotten from mobile hence, make sure that your website is neatly laid out and built for mobile. Do everything possible to make sure that your web pages load fast.
Internet users are generally not patient people hence you have less than 2 seconds to impress your site visitors. Discuss this with your web developer so that the pages of your website are made as light as possible to ensure that you beat the 2 seconds mark.
3. Visible Contact Information
Have you ever visited a website with the intention of contacting them and all you see there is a contact form? Sighs! That can be very annoying because a lot of them do not even respond to the inquiries you make through the forms.
Worse case is when you need urgent information and there is no phone number to call, I automatically get very angry with myself for even considering working with that business at all.
Your website should have your phone numbers, physical address and email address very visible and if possible on every single page. This makes it very easy for your prospective clients to reach you and can increase your sales because you get to pitch directly to them.
4. Customer testimonials
Whenever I want to buy from a small business for the first time, I visit their website and lookout for testimonials. If I cannot find a testimonial, I quickly check out a competitor’s website for the same thing.
Customer reviews are very powerful ways to reduce the decision-making time for your prospects. Every time someone says something nice, you should consider putting those on your website and if you ever feel that the testimonials are getting too many, then you should consider dedicating an entire page to them.
5. A dedicated page for About us and Products/services
Apart from your home page, the About us page is the second most visited page of your website and you want your site visitors to fall in love with it.
Tell your brand story on your about us page. Talk about your vision and mission. Talk about how you started and the journey so far. Make it have a human touch to it and ensure that the page is Search Engine Optimized.
If you have a product based business also make sure to have a detailed products page on your website.
6. Maps
You don’t want your site visitors wandering around your website in search of something. That can be very frustrating and could make them quit. Ensure that your website has a simple sitemap so that your visitors can easily navigate through without feeling overwhelmed.
Having a location map is also very good for businesses that have a physical address. This makes it easy for people to find you and also increases their level of trust.
7. Email list building opt-in
Email marketing has been proven as one of the most effective forms of marketing hence every business needs an email list. Having an opt-in form on your website helps to build a list of people who are genuinely interested in your products/services and this is a million times better than buying a mailing list.
8. A clear call to action
What do you want your site visitors to do? Every single page on your website should have at least one call to action.
9. A blog section
As a small business, one of the most effective ways to build you Know, Like and Trust is by creating relevant contents on your blog. Content marketing is very big especially for small businesses so ensure that your contents are Top-notch.
Avoid plagiarism and ensure that your blog articles have social shares enabled.
10. Link to your social media pages
Social Media for businesses is a huge thing now and your visitors expect that you will have social media presence. Invite them to hang out with you on your social media pages.
Do you have all these on your website? If not, I hope you can fill in the blanks as soon as possible so that your business can achieve its aims efficiently.