A lot of people say that a business website can make or break your business.
A lot of people say that a business website can make or break your business. Is this true, or is it a dramatic overstatement? Well, obviously in the case of ecommerce websites, this statement couldn’t be more true! But it’s not exactly an overzealous fiction when it comes to other businesses, either. Most new customers are introduced to your business through your website. So even if you’re running a small business from home, you need to build a great website.
We’re going to take a quick look at some of the most important aspects of any business website. If you don’t want customers to be put off when they check out your business online, then you should be following the advice we have to offer!
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Keeping it simple
Your business website should be simple to navigate. People obviously don’t want to have to spend a long time on your website trying to wrestle with its functions! They want to find out about your business, or look at a particular product. This means they’re looking for a particular piece of content on your website. Whatever the user is looking for, it needs to be really easy for them to get to. Don’t be tempted to make an overly elaborate design just to impress the design geeks out there. Because what design geeks really value is usability. Prettiness and complexity can really only get you so far!
Connection and marketing
When you’re building your website, you need to think about its suitability for search engine optimization, as well as share-ability on social media. These are the killer techniques that will make it easier for people to actually find your business website. Without a focus on these, you’re probably not going to get anywhere near the number of monthly visitors you’re going to need to sustain a business. When you’re developing your website, you may want to consider working with SEO consultants to ensure you’re developing that area of things correctly. As for social media, having features that allow people to share content on Facebook and Twitter instantly can work wonders.
Technical smoothness
The Internet is always on. It’s pulsing with activity twenty-four hours a day all year round. So guess what else needs to be running all the time? That’s right: your website. You need to do your best to minimize downtime. But it’s not just about avoiding gaps in functionality. You also need to make sure your website is running smoothly when it is online. If your website takes too long to load anything, then users are going to give up in frustration very quickly. There are few things in life more frustrating than a webpage that won’t load, after all! (And yes, I realize we can say things like this from a very privileged position in the world. But let’s save that conversation for another day!)
Look at your competitors
Whether you’re running a blog, a store, or any other kind of business, you should be checking out the websites of your competition. And I’m talking about the big fish, here. If you’re running an ecommerce business, then study Amazon. Get to grips with what makes these websites such a joy to use.
