Now that the internet is everyone’s go-to source for information, your business needs an online presence that creates a great first impression and represents your business or brand in a good light.
A business website is usually the first thing potential clients interact with, and it’s necessary for branding and sales, even if the majority of your operations may not be online. While building a website is a step in the right direction, overlooking some key elements will put your website at a disadvantage. Here are three of these key elements:
Visibility
Search engines are the vehicles that drive users’ online search for products and services, and the most popular search engines process and catalogue billions of searches per day. Coupled with the fact that there are over one billion unique websites, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.
Businesses are doing whatever they can to stand out and be easily found by major search engines. To do this, SEO (i.e. search engine optimization) is required. While SEO isn’t something that can be seen on a website, it involves behind-the-scenes changes that let search engines like Google and Bing show your website more often.
SEO is the process of increasing web traffic to your website by making changes aimed at positioning your website in such a way that it’s easily indexed by search engine algorithms. This way, it’s then displayed in prominent positions on their SERP (search engine results page).
Visibility goes beyond SEO. It also involves the type of devices that are able to effectively access your website. According to Central Florida Media Solutions, an Orlando web design company, mobile devices were used to browse the internet more than desktop computers as of November 2016.
The world is moving towards the mobile internet and, chances are, a huge number of potential clients will view your website from their mobile phones. So your website must also be mobile-friendly.
Good content
Content is king in the world of websites. Good content creates engagement, which leads to conversions and sales. First-time site visitors rarely come with the intent to purchase a product or subscribe to a service.
Most times, they are just “getting the lay of the land”, and what determines whether they come back or not is how good your content is. Content involves all text and media contained in your website. Everything from your landing page to your “About Us” or contact page is all content.
Content that keeps users engaged often creates more traffic and may be what turns a visitor into a customer. It is your content that also informs visitors on who you are (your business), what you do, and why they should choose you. Some of this is referred to as “web copy”.
If you are not sure what good content should be, just remember that good content is useful; it provides value. Good content is concise; it doesn’t ramble on. And finally, good content is user-centric; it addresses the user’s problems.
Simple and easy-to-navigate design
The days of complex, intricate designs are over. Everything in this age is designed to be simpler, from logos to websites, and bad web design will drive viewers away.
Users should easily be able to understand and navigate your website, and those who arrive via links sent out either during your email marketing or search engine marketing campaigns should be brought to relevant pages.
A site map should also be available and easy to use. In addition, your website should be optimized to load quickly. Case studies have shown that websites which take less time to load often see an increase in web traffic.
Elements that make a good business website are elements that expand your reach (SEO), foster user engagement (content), and facilitate connections and conversions (design).