For the majority of us, putting up a website is not simply a hobby or something we do for fun. In today’s business environment, who has the time for non-essential activities? Luckily, with constant updates to content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, building a high quality, professional website has become easier than ever.
READ MORE: WHY WORDPRESS?
Your website is a tool to generate leads and gain followers, to increase additional revenue for your business and build your brand. It is a window into who you are, what you do, and how you can help potential visitors. There are several things you can do to hurt and help your online efforts.
READ MORE: WEBSITE BUILDING BASICS
THINGS THAT HURT:
- Unprofessional Appearance: Your website is your image to the world. Remember that when you design your site. This can be your best and worst advertising. If it takes the appearance of a college Facebook page or has an annoying, flashy color scheme, people will not take you seriously, no matter how good your products and services are. Your website should make it easy for your users to find what they are looking for.
- Never Changing The Site: If your neighborhood store never changes, never offers any new products and always has the same appearance, do you eventually stop shopping there and try the competitor with the fresh face and new, intriguing products? Think of your website as a store. It is your face to the world. If you let it be bland and boring, you will only encounter one time visitors. Remember: It is a lot harder to get new customers than it is to keep customers.
- Being Hard To Contact: In today’s world of email, instant messaging, and cell phones, customers will not tolerate a lack of contact. If you use a “Contact Us” page, expect to lose customers if you don’t respond within 24 hours at the very least. The more technology has moved us along, our patience level has also shrunk. If you haven’t responded in a short period of time, rest assured that your competitor is talking to that customer.
- Not Having A Call To Action: The main goal of your website is to get your users into action. Your call to action (CTA) should be clear, concise and tell your users exactly what their next step is. Some CTA verbiage examples include: download, subscribe, sign up, contact us, get started.
THINGS THAT HELP:
- Bring On New Products: Even if you have a lot of products, don’t put them all out at once and never change your site. As stated above, potential customers will get bored and not come back. Instead, put out some of your products, with a message that more are coming soon, and regularly add a few more items. While this may seem like you will lose some potential sales, in reality you will get the customer to keep checking back to see what’s new. With all the competition on the web, the worst thing that can happen is for people to forget about you.
- Keep The Site Fresh: This is key to getting your site noticed and to gain traffic. Without changing the content, you will merely continue to drop farther and farther down the search pages. One of the best ways to keep your site fresh and keep potential customers interested and returning is to start a blog on your site. Your blog is a marketing tool. Use it to introduce customers to what you can offer them, what kinds of services you provide, and how it can make their lives better. If you would like a blog on your site but do not have the time or comfort level to do it yourself, please contact us and we will be happy to provide this service for you.
READ MORE: HOW TO BLOG USING CONTENT CURATION
- Link Your Social Media Sites: Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. LinkedIn. Pinterest. SnapChat. Social media is a wonderful tool to promote your business/brand and drive people to your website. In turn, make sure you are using your website to drive customers to your social media, giving yourself even more outlets to connect to to your audience and stay in touch.
READ MORE: BE SOCIALLY SAVVY WITH WORDPRESS PLUGINS
- Be Mobile-Friendly: We talk a lot about the importance of having a mobile-friendly – aka responsive – web design, when building/updating your website. The goal of your website is for your users to have a great experience no matter what platform they are viewing your site from. Optimizing your site for mobile viewing is an absolute must.
READ MORE: WHY RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN?
Looking to start building your website, or freshen up an existing one? Check out our EZWP Builder package – a one-stop shop for easy website design, domain name registration, website hosting and Branded Email.