8 things every Business Website should have By Nick in Business, Design, Online marketing, Social media, Website creation
In 2010 a website is your company shop window, your brochure, your business card and your advertising all rolled into one. With so many demands your website has got its work cut out!
These competing needs make it hard to keep your website design focused. On top of all this you have to make decisions about menus, fonts, layouts and images. So what are the essentials that your business website can’t do without? Before you start designing your site, ask yourself a few basic questions:
- Why does my company need a website?
- What information will website visitors look for on my website?
- How can I make it easy to find that information?
- What will make people more likely to buy from me?
Answering these questions will make it easier to decide what your website has got to have.
Here are 8 things every business website should include:
1. Contact details.
This might appear obvious, but you’d be surprised how often contact details are overlooked or buried in an inaccessible place. If you run a small local business, one of the main reasons people will look at your website is to find out where you are located and how to get in touch.
At the very least you should include your phone number, your address and your email address. These details should be in an obvious place. Think about putting the phone number in the header on every page, and make the ‘contact us’ page really easy to find.
2. Location map
Following on from the contact details, a map is a great way to add some reassurance to your website visitors that you really exist. If you can prove where you’re located in the real world, they will feel more confident in dealing with you online.
And again, for those people who have looked at your website to find out how to get to your physical address, a map is essential.
3. A ‘contact us’ form
Some website visitors want to find out more information but aren’t ready to give you a call. This might be because they’re too busy or at work. Or they may be on your website in the evening or weekend, when there’s no one manning the phones. A contact form allows them to express an interest when it’s convenient for them to do so.
It’s great for your marketing efforts too, as you can compile a customer data list for future email marketing purposes.
4. Newsletter sign up
Most websites convert visitors to customers at a rate of about 3% or 4%. That means that 96 out of every 100 people will leave your site without buying anything! This might happen for a variety of reasons; they simply may not be ready to make the purchase.
However, if these ‘leavers’ have the option to sign up to a newsletter, it’s a way of them saying ‘I’m interested in what you do, tell me more. I might buy one day.’ You can use the newsletter to create and sustain an ongoing relationship with them. And then hopefully, when they’re ready, they will buy from your site.
Also, your newsletter sign ups (like contact us forms) will provide a great source for direct marketing opportunities.
5. Blog
A company blog can be an effective way of creating and maintaining a relationship with new and current customers. It’s an opportunity to add personality to your website, and impress your website visitors with your enthusiasm and knowledge. It gives people a reason to come back to your website other than to buy, thus filling gaps in the business to customer relationship in between purchases,
Blogs can also help boost your website higher up the search engine results pages. One factor that Google looks at when ranking websites is whether they have fresh, unique content added to them on a regular basis. When you’re selling products online, your website probably doesn’t change very frequently. So a blog is a brilliant way of adding new content without actually changing your products or the rest of your site.
6. Customer feedback, testimonials and reviews
One of the best ways to gain customers is by having your service positively reviewed and recommended. Whilst you’re hardly likely to publish negative customer sentiment on your own website, it’s still a good idea to sprinkle good testimonials around wherever possible.
Testimonials are most convincing if you can specifically name the reviewer, and allow others to verify the reviewer’s authenticity by including their website address or company name.
When you get a good testimonial (either by email, phone, or face to face) always ask the customer if they will allow you to use their statement on your website.
7. Industry Stamps & Seals
Many people look for industry and trade body membership, qualifications and endorsements in order to be reassured that the companies they are dealing with are genuine.
Make these official stamps and logos a permanent part of your design by including them in the footer on every page.
8. Link to your Twitter page
Twitter allows any business to have an instant one-to-one or one-to-many conversation with its current or potential customers. Many businesses use Twitter to support their customers, to sell to them, and to interact with them on a daily basis,
Twitter also adds personality to your website. Make sure you sign up to Twitter and allow your website visitors to contact you via the platform. Link to your Twitter profile page from your website. If you use it a lot, then include a live feed of your Tweets on your website.
Summary
A business website has many tasks to fulfill. These competing demands can make it hard to settle on a site design, as it is unlikely you will be able to satisfy every criteria without incurring any conflicting interests. But there are some things every business website should have, in order to maximise sales and form a sustainable relationships with visitors.
Anything on the list you disagree with? Are there any other ‘essentials’ you think should go on there? Leave us a comment below.
