Did you know there are over 1.5 billion websites?
It’s no wonder that business owners have to make sure they have a website that stands out from the competition.
Every business website needs certain things to keep users engaged and coming back. Keep reading to learn about the top things every business website needs.
15 Things Every Business Website Needs
Small online businesses are well aware that their website is the heart of their online marketing. Most people will go browse a company’s website before making a purchase. A website that’s well put together will serve as a storefront at all times even when you’re sleeping.
1. Contact Us
It might seem obvious to put up a way for people to contact you on your site, but it’s overlooked many times. When a person visits your website, they need a way to contact you. Make sure the contact information is visible and not hidden.
You can add your contact information on every page on your site and it wouldn’t be overkill. A clickable button to send you an email works great or an actual contact form where they enter their main information and then have an area where they submit their concerns or questions.
2. URL
When it comes to picking your website URL or address, simple is key. You want to choose something that’s easy to remember. The simpler the better.
If they can remember it without writing it down, even better. Having dashes and underscores will make it more difficult to remember your site. It will also make it more difficult when you’re having your site printed on promo materials.
3. Description
Having a clear description of what your business is front and center will help people know exactly what you have to offer without trying to figure it out by going through your site. Some people won’t have the patience to do the detective work to figure out what you have to offer they’ll just leave and there goes a potential customer.
4. Navigation
Keep your navigation bar easy to read and clutter free. If you have a lot of valuable information and content but people can’t find it, this defeats the purpose. Another thing to keep in mind with navigating your website is to have a button at all times that returns a user back to the home page.
5. SEO Optimization
If people can’t find it, what good is that going to be for you? Many people search online for local businesses because this has replaced the Yellow Pages, make sure your website is found and recommended. If you don’t know about Search Engine Optimization, you can find a professional that can help you.
You want to use the right keywords, links, titles, etc in order for people to find you when they’re searching online.
6. Testimonials
This will build trust with your website visitors. Make sure you’re using real testimonials from real clients. Adding a picture next to the testimony will help build that trust.
If the person leaving the testimony allows you to link to their social media profiles, that’s even better.
7. Blog
Websites need quality content in order to maximize their visibility when people are searching. Starting a blog section your website will increase your SEO, which equals more visitors on your site.
A blog will also make you an “expert” in your industry if you share content of value that people can use to their benefit and share with others.
8. Newsletter
Have a newsletter set up where you share a weekly or a monthly newsletter. This will help you grow your email list and have a way to share anything in the future through email marketing.
Every time you add a new blog post you can share it with your email list.
9. Social Media
With over 2 billion people on social media, you want to have your business social media links somewhere on your site. People love to follow businesses on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest to name a few. Have clickable buttons on your site where visitors can click and land on your social media profiles without searching for you.
10. Call to Action
Let your visitors know what you want them to do. If you want them to enter their phone number or email for a special coupon make sure it’s visible so they take action. You can make your call to action stand out.
Think outside the box.
11. Secure Hosting
Every website needs to find a host that will keep its website as secure as possible. Hackers will be hackers but there are website hosting services with a proven track record. You also want secure hosting to ensure your website doesn’t crash or your content randomly goes down sometimes.
12. Responsive Logo
Most people hear about having a responsive website but don’t think about the logo also being responsive. A responsive logo means that depending on the device or the screen size that the website is being viewed on, the logo will vary slightly to make it look best for the device but, it won’t sacrifice the brand identity.
13. Quality Pictures
Pictures will help keep your visitors engaged but if they take too long to load they will defeat the purpose. Using quality pictures that load fast will break up chunks of text. Don’t ever forget you want to keep your visitor from clicking away from your site and quality pictures is a great way to keep coming back.
14. Consistent Content
Adding new content consistently will keep visitors coming back. It will increase your traffic and have a higher ranking when it comes to search engines because they take into account return visitors.
Sharing consistent content also gives you a reason to email your list.
15. Design
Here is another area where you want simplicity. Visitors will scan the site’s pages before making the decision to slow down and read. If you have a simple website design that’s easy on the eyes and not too cluttered it will make it for easy scanning.
Have Fun!
Building your business website doesn’t have to be a boring task. Have fun with it whether you take the task on yourself or call in the pros. Put yourself in your visitor’s shoes and make sure it’s a site you would stay on yourself.
If you are still looking for the perfect logo to make your company stand out, contact us to work with one of our professional logo designers.
