It is important for businesses of any size to have a website. Why? Because your business website acts as a digital ‘store front’.
Your website encapsulates your digital persona and offers a key touchpoint to bring together your entire brand in the online space. Your website provides a space for you to sell, a tool to attract new customers and retain existing ones, and a place to provide key information and contact details.
Although your website is an important sales platform, it’s necessary to remember that people don’t just head online to buy – and your website should reflect this. People are now using the internet to be entertained, find information and engage with people and businesses.
Therefore:
The key to creating a winning website is to think of it not just as a sales tool, but an engagement platform
Here are 4 vital areas to focus on to help you develop your own winning website!
Design
In the same way that a shabby, unattractive store front would deter people from entering, a poor website will disengage potential customers and lead them to click away. It’s important that your website consistently reflects your brand and is both visually engaging and user-friendly. How your website looks and functions will play a big part in the user-experience and it’s important to develop this effectively or you could see a high bounce rate.
Set objectives for your website
What would you like your website to do? Businesses can get caught up in developing a website without thinking about what the aim of this platform is. If you’re not providing calls to action or populating your website with content accordingly, you could be left with a static, stale and unappealing platform. It’s therefore important to think about whether your website should, for example, help increase sales, grow newsletter subscriptions or encourage customer reviews. You should then regularly update your website to reflect your goals and to ensure it is active and up-to-date.
Content is king!
Your website is not just a sales tool – it is an opportunity to engage, entertain and excite your potential and existing customers. A blog is a popular platform for businesses as it is an easy way to share interesting content with customers. Whether you produce advice posts, humorous content, thought-provoking statistics, weekly updates or industry news, you should spend some time developing regular content. Whether weekly or fortnightly, this content can help encourage readers to stay on your website, position you as an authority in your field and help with your Search Engine Optimisation.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
If you’re developing a great website, you need to make sure you have visitors to experience it! Small changes to your SEO tactics can help your website to rank more highly in the search engine results pages and increase your online visibility. Once you get visitors onto your site, a visual platform that’s easy to use and full of engaging content will encourage conversions. If you would like more information on SEO, take a look at our handy blog!