“Hello, Hello…is there anyone out there?!”
As a small business owner, do you not get any visitors to, or leads from, your website? If not, this is a must-read for you.
When done right, your website is your 24/7 virtual sales force, working for you even when you are not working.
And remember, people do judge a business by its website, so first impressions matter.
Recognizing this fact is the first step in creating a website that will garner the visitors, customers and sales you want.
But you don’t have to go it alone…we’re here to help with insightful information every step of the way.
Almost half of visitors will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.
There are 5 must-haves for a website to work efficiently as your lean, mean, lead generation machine. If you follow these web standards, you’re on your way to boosting your business.
And because all visitors to your website are potential customers, we’ll be referring to them as just that, customers instead of visitors or users.
The 5 Must-Haves for Best Website Design:
1. Visual vs. Content
Do you recall the days when all you did was scroll ,scroll and scroll through content? Content is still king but it’s all about customization towards your target audience, and it should be simple and to the point. 82% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content. The goal is to engage and focus on branding, promotion and sales, not your entire history.
Don’t inundate your website with copywriting that will overwhelm your customers. Instead, convey your messages in digestible bites using visuals such as images, videos, headlines, bullet points and more. Capture customers’ attention so they can navigate through your site more seamlessly without getting confused.
2. Emotional Appeal
Create an emotional connection with your customer.
Take for example a kid’s camp website. It should be bright and colorful with action shot of campers smiling and having fun. Parents trying to decide where to send their kids to camp will look at this and “feel” the enjoyment of the campers. They will think “Wow, my kids will love this camp because it looks like so much fun.”
You want your customer to make their buying decision based not only on using their head but also with their heart.
3. Interactive & Social
Your website should be a multi-sensory experience rather than a static, one-dimensional, multi-page overload. Using video and high-quality images is a great way to keep your customer engaged. Social sharing also allows the customer to interact with you and others about your products and services.
Adding a CTA (call-to-action) is a must. More than 90% of visitors who read your headline also read your CTA copy. This is the ideal way to motivate your customer into actually doing something within your site. Case in point, we offer a FREE E-Book if you sign up for our eNewsletter. It’s all about granting your customer a “soft” approach to learning about your business. Gone are the days of the hard-sell, especially during our COVID era…people want to feel safe and valued, not pressured.
4. Mobile-Friendly
No longer is having a mobile-friendly (responsive) website a luxury, it’s a must! 85% of Americans online use a mobile device to access the web, and this number just keeps growing. If the majority of your customers are using their tablets and smartphones to look at your website, you better be sure they can easily see (and get to) what they’re looking for.
On a desktop it takes 7-8 seconds for a customers to determine whether they want to stay or bounce. On a mobile device it’s only 3-4 seconds. If you don’t facilitate the speed, visibility and navigation of your website on a mobile device, those who come to browse and shop on your site will immediately leave and go somewhere else. And what does this mean for your business…lost sales. 62% of companies increased their sales by designing responsive mobile platforms for their websites.
In addition to keeping the current customer happy, a mobile-friendly site also helps to gain potential new customers by way of organic search engine optimization (SEO). This means that having a mobile-friendly (responsive) website improves your rankings on search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.
5. Optimal Customer Experience
Always keep in mind the old adage, “the customer is always right.” Everything discussed above ties this all in together.
For example, we developed a website for a kid’s sleepover camp. Being that it is a 68+ page website (OMG!) we needed to make sure it was easy to navigate, intuitive and welcoming, not overwhelming. So what did we do? We’ grouped pages based on each target audience, “Current Families” and “Prospective Families,” into their own menu items. So if you are a parent of a current camper, or a parent looking for a sleepaway camp, you immediately know where to go for more information.
Also, make sure the customer knows how to reach you. Place your phone number, email and contact information where it is easily visible and accessible on your website. 44% of website visitors will leave a company’s website if there’s no contact information or phone number.
The purpose of your website is to build brand awareness, highlight your expertise and generate leads. If you incorporate all the 5 website must-haves, you are well on your way to just that.
Sources: SAG IPL
FREE eGuide
If you’re one of the many small business owners in need of a redesign, you’ll need to understand your next step.
That’s why we created our FREE eGuide Before hiring a web designer, read this!
It includes the top 10 questions every small business owner should ask.
Get your free eGuide today.
This is our way of helping small businesses, and paying-it-forward.
Our goal is to help accelerate your success.
We’re here to help…
As always, we welcome you to reach out to us for more information, as well as a FREE, no-obligation consultation.
Best regards, until next time!
Kathy Argyros
Founder and Chief Consultant
Exceller Marketing, Inc.
914-450-9149
kathy@excellermarketing.com
excellermarketing.com
Exceller Marketing is a boutique-style, full-service web design and digital marketing agency in Westchester County, NY We empower small businesses and entrepreneurs with outstanding web design and expert digital marketing services that keep our clients ahead of their competition.
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