Nowadays websites are an important factor in how well your business does. Businesses who do not establish a good online presence are at risk of losing customers to competitors. Why? People these days want to read reviews about your business before making a purchase, they want to make purchases online and contact you through email. Having a website allows consumers to see your business and get more information about you without having to walk into your store and ask you for it. Your website saves you time and your customers’ time.

SEO

The way you use Search Engine Optimisation will greatly determine the amount of traffic you get on your website. As a business you should aim to get in the first page of search results as people will trust the websites that rank the highest. They have no interest in scrolling for hours on end trying to find the product or service they want.

If they can’t find it quickly enough there’s a high chance of them going to a competitor instead. Ideally, you want your website to pop up in the top 3 of the search results. Keywords! Choose keywords relevant to your website. For example, if people were to look up a product that exists on your website.. what would they put into the Search Engine? If I’m looking to purchase a new printer I would search words such as inkjet printer, brother printer, laser printer etc.

Navigation

People won’t spend long on your website as they want the information they’re looking for straight away. An overly-complicated website will just annoy your customers so this means you need to sculpt your website strategically so that it’s easy for them to get what they came there for. Poor navigation on a website is the main thing that annoys me when visiting websites. Why do you want it to be difficult for customers to buy your product or contact you? You don’t! So arrange the content into categories and don’t overly complicate things!

Content

It is important to note that you can have too much content. A cluttered website can overwhelm the visitor if it has too many distractions. Sometimes simpler is better and makes a better impression on the visitor. Aim to keep the amount of times the customer has to click as low as possible. The less clicking they have to do the easier it is and the happier they’ll be!

Visuals are a great way to keep people interested and engaged so use images and videos creatively. Don’t have too many images and slide shows. Don’t have too much text as everyone might not have the time to read it. Learn to balance both to make your website attractive and be full of information that’s required.

Looks good on all devices

Your website might look great on the big screen, but have you checked if it looks just as good on mobile? Almost everyone has a mobile now but not everyone has a laptop or computer. A lot of people will be accessing the website through their phone so it’s important that the layout works on a smartphone as well and is easy to navigate.

Trust

You must offer your customers a secure checkout. If your website doesn’t look official and polished people won’t feel safe leaving their bank details and other personal information with you. It is important to gain and keep the customers trust by letting them know you take their privacy seriously. The last thing you want is for a customer to not make a purchase because your website doesn’t look trustworthy!