No matter the size, market or scope of your business, if you want to continue to attract potential customers or develop new business leads, then it may be time for you to give your current website a much-needed makeover. Consider for a moment how much of your business is now becoming digitalized. Chances are, you have various processes that are now fully automated or completed online, and it makes perfect sense that your business website compliments this. So even if part of your business isn’t currently conducted online, or perhaps you have a fifty-fifty split, you can still benefit from giving your website a boost.
Firstly, you may want to take pen to paper and establish your key business goals and areas that need to stand out on your site. Any website will, of course, need a contact section that is easy to find and access. You may also want to consider making your site fully mobile responsive, meaning that any customers can access your site from their mobile device or tablet no matter where they are in the world. Your website should contain clear, concise and straightforward information about your company history, who you are and what you offer. Remember that you need to attract the attention of your website user within the first two to three seconds of them visiting your site – so you need to make sure that your website address and the overall experience are optimal and engaging, right from the get-go.
Clarity
Your business website will only function well and attract new customers if it is clear and simple to use. Before you even decide on your site navigation or sitemap, you need to run your ideas past a few friends or business colleagues to make sure that it makes sense – and you can follow your initial design ideas. Remember not to over-complicate matters, a simple and straightforward sitemap, containing drop downs will ensure that users remain interested in your firm and product range, meaning that they are less likely to leave your website and browse elsewhere. Try imagining that you have come across your company for the first time, and you are interested in exploring the website to find out more information. If you are unable to find what you are looking for, then your site is not easy to use.
Engaging content
Now you have decided on your website design and are happy with the overall site navigation; you can begin to start populating your site with engaging imagery and content. When it comes to managing and maintaining a successful business website, then you need to remember that content truly is king! From videos or teasers to promote your latest products, to relevant articles or long-form pieces in response to the latest industry trends, as long as you keep your content updated and fresh, you can be as inventive and as original as you like. Make sure that any content or videos that you add to your site have the relevant keywords or meta-tags attached, as these will ensure that your site obtains a higher rating from search engines, such as Google, improving its SEO score (search engine optimization). Consider maintaining a content schedule, so that you can keep on top of daily or weekly updates to your site. Be sure to support your efforts on your company social media channels too, to ensure that you drive even more traffic to your business website. You can even use tools such as HootSuite, to enable you to automatically schedule posts and content – even out of usual office hours.
Social media integration
If you haven’t already started using social media to boost your business and improve your digital presence, then you need to get with the times and prepare yourself for change. Social media marketing is a powerful tool that works exceptionally well in combination with a business’s website, enabling you to promote and signpost new articles or video content so that users remain fully engaged within all of your digital outlets. Depending on the nature of your business, consider Facebook and LinkedIn for longer posts, or even articles, while Instagram is ideal for posting imagery and video content. You may also want to consider using Twitter if you want to respond to customer queries quickly or respond to any comments or complaints. If you have the functionality, integrating social media buttons on your site will ensure that users can share your copy or content on their own social media accounts also, again, driving traffic back to your website and upping your social presence.
Custom calculators
If your website is designed for the automobile industry for example, and you need a tool to enable users to work out mileage costs or even the year, make or model or a car, then why not consider adding a customer calculator to your website? Custom calculators enable you to capture valuable marketing data, such as customer names, emails and further contact information, while they populate fields on your website. You could create own online calculator to provide your business website with a powerful marketing tool, that is simple to use and meets your business needs. So if you are looking for a tool that will give your website the edge, then consider adding a custom calculator to your site.
Maintaining and running a business website will take time, effort and energy. However, it is vital that you give your business website the extra edge if you want to attract and retain new customers. Make sure that you keep clarity at the front of your mind when you are designing your website map, and be sure to offer your users a journey that is easy to navigate and follow. Next, make sure that you keep content fresh and up to date so that you can share it on your social media channels. You may also want to consider social media integration on your site so that that website users can share your content on their own accounts also. Finally, consider adding a custom calculator tool to truly give your site the edge.