Thanks Nicole at Picasso Media Group for another great article
I honestly believe in this day and age, every business should have a website. Most small businesses have a limited marketing budget and so being found online is really important. When building your website there are some important things that you must include. We have compiled a list of 9 must haves for your small business website.
1. Easy navigation menu
This part should be completed in the initial planning phase of your website. Consider your sitemap and create a really easy to find navigation menu. When I say easy to find I mean ensure your visitors to the site can find what they are after quickly and easily. If you are going to use drop-down menus ensure that you don’t go more than two menus deep.
2. Have the ‘right’ amount of content
The key to being found on Google is having a reasonable amount of content on each page. Make sure that you do more than one paragraph on each page. Not only will your website look a lot nicer, Google will love you!
3. Include your own photo
I know a lot of people don’t want to have their photo on their website (We don’t really like it either) but as a small business owner this is essential. Don’t use an iStock image as if it were you or a member of your team. Have an actual image of you on your ‘About Us’ page (and the team if you have one), your potential customers will appreciate this and start to feel they know who they are about to do business with.
4. Lots of White Space
There is nothing worse than a cluttered website. Your potential clients will click away from the site quicker than you can say WordPress if the site is too cluttered. Keep things clean and simple with lots of white space so that your customers feel calm when reviewing your content.
5. Easy to Locate Contact Details
Ensure that your customers can easily find out how to contact you. If they need to search for your contact details because they aren’t located in a noticeable spot you can rest assured that they won’t go looking. Also on the contact page ensure you have more than one method of contact, there is nothing more frustrating then having only a contact form instead of including your actual phone number and an email address.
6. Include a call to action
This could be in the form of a database sign up form. Make sure you have something to entice your readers, a free eBook or similar. Free eBooks work well since people are prepared to provide you with their email address in return for being given something of value to them.
7. Integrate your Social Media contacts
There is a rule that your customers have to have around 5 points of contact prior to doing business with you. So ensure you include your links to social media which allows your potential customers to connect with you on different platforms.
8. Visitors don’t read they scan
Remember people scan websites, they don’t read every word on the page. Make your website easy on the reader’s eye and make it scan-able. Simple formatting can assist with this. Make use of headings, bold text and also bullet points to make your copy easier to read. Go through each page and highlight the main points. It is also a good idea to hyperlink through to different pages when mentioning them.
9. Images go a long way
Make use of images. They can really spice up website pages and blog posts. You do need to be careful not to use too many images but using one per page is a good rule of thumb. Images can instantly tell a reader what the subject of the webpage is likely to be.