5 Tips for Building an Effective Business Website

Clearly, businesses need websites today. Regardless of how your customers heard about your company, many will check your website before making a purchasing decision. Studies show that 94 percent of B2B buyers research companies online first. They want to learn more about your products and services before deciding to purchase. A business website can help you engage and connect with them, so you don’t miss an incredible opportunity.

However, building an effective business website can be daunting, especially if you are a newbie. At a minimum, you’ll want to cover the basics such as your company information, contact details, and your mission-vision. Furthermore, your URL should be short and could be easily connected with your business name. Preferably, websites carry the suffix dot.com. But, other suffixes such as dot.net are also fine.

Beyond these basics, here are five tips to help you create a beautiful business website:

  1. Make your website mobile responsive. Mobile usage had overtaken desktop for the first time in 2016, demonstrating just how many people use their smartphones and tablets to shop online. A responsive web design improves user experience and translates to a positive perception of your business. They load faster, which is likely to decrease your bounce rate and boost your ranking.
  2. Have a call to action. Every page in your website should encourage your reader to do something. A great CTA button directs users to download a white paper, sign up for a service or buy a product. They get them to take a desired action, which ultimately help your business achieve its defined objectives. Keep them above the fold so your readers don’t have to scroll down to find them.
  3. Keep your web design simple. Limit your use of colors, fonts and animated gifs because they can distract and pull away the focus of your readers from the webpage. Use short paragraphs and bullet points to make information easy to read and less boring. Paragraphs should be shorter than six lines, too. Plus, a simple web design improves the loading times of your business website.
  4. Get personal. If you want to remain competitive in the modern landscape, you need to engage your business websites with your users. Provide high quality experience to keep a positive brand perception. Also, include a good photo of yourself or team on your about page. Customers want to know that there’s a real person working with them.
  5. Use images to tell your business’ story. Many business websites get the content aspect right but miss out on the media part. Visuals help sell your products and services. They could be the reason why your customers choose you over your competitor. But, do not overload your site with photos. They can diffuse attention and slow down your load times, too. Feature a few good photos on your homepage and interior pages.

With many website tools available, creating a website don’t need to be difficult. You just have to keep these design principle in mind to build an effective business website. Identify your goals and design your website to accomplish them. Remember, your website is your electronic business card. Make it a good one to be seen legitimate.

6 Qualities of a Better Small Business Website

Small businesses, just like the larger enterprises, require a professional website to build trust among clients and attract potential customers. But, it should not just be any other website. See this. There are certain qualities that a small business website should possess to ensure success in the e-commerce scene. The top 6 characteristics of a better website is listed below:

  • Clutter-free. A better small business site should be simple yet captivating. Creating a complicated design or putting too much information can overwhelm your audience. A clutter-free design sends a message of professionalism. It allows your website to breathe and provides your readers with a pleasant experience.
  • SEO-friendly. An organized design with clear content, proper URLs, relevant keywords and sitemaps makes a small business website SEO-friendly. It allows search engines such as Google index the website with ease. As a result, your customers will easily find you.
  • Mobile-friendly. After Google’s announcement of mobile-first index, it would be almost a lost opportunity if you don’t make your website responsive. According to studies, majority of consumers access websites on mobile devices. Making your site mobile-friendly means it adapts and rearranges itself when viewed on mobile devices.
  • Avoid superficiality on your business website and make it look professional. The appearance of your site reflects your brand. Customers will assume that you provide the same level of professionalism to your products and services as with your small business website. Remember, it is your electronic business card. Make sure graphics and images are in sync and complement your brand.
  • Simple and unique. Your goal should be to create a simple and unique web design. First impressions count in online presence. How your website looks will determine whether viewers will continue to read or abandon your site. If it resembles thousands of others, it will not create an impact on your reader’s mind. Your web design should be impressive enough to attract attention and retain it. Otherwise, your customers will take their business elsewhere.
  • Quick load time. Did you know that one of the main reasons customers abandon a website is slow load time? They get impatient when it takes over 6 seconds for a business site to load. So, make sure that your business website has the right server infrastructure and bandwidth. A graphically-complicated design can also slow down load time. Avoid putting too much photos and pick up good hosts to increase it.
  • Relevant content. This plays a major role in getting indexed by Google. Good content makes it easier for search engines to find and index your site. On the other hand, poor content put offs viewers. It is the difference between a customer continuing further or browsing your competitor’s website.

Without these important qualities of a small business website, you company may fall behind your competitors. You will miss the opportunity to connect and engage with your customers. Consumers, nowadays, check out websites before making a purchasing decision. They would like to know more about your company, and the products and services you offer. A professional website is the perfect platform to showcase these.