Your website can use plenty of creativity and outside-the-box thinking to make it unique, but it should always have 10 essential elements regardless of the approach you take. Without these website must-haves, the amount of traffic you receive will stay low, and few visitors will get the utility out of your site they deserve.
Since the last thing you want for your business is to stay hidden and frustrate customers, these 10 essentials are part of being a good business owner. You can incorporate them into your own website to improve online lead generation and customer experience, likely helping boost revenues in the process.
So, take a long, hard look at your business’s website to see if it has these 10 essential components that promote success:
1. A RESPONSIVE, MOBILE-FRIENDLY DESIGN
Responsive designs “respond” to the screen size they are being viewed upon, making them perfectly fit every time. This capability is important for more than just aesthetics; without responsive design, some websites “break” on certain screen sizes by showing odd graphics or cutting off important text. Others are almost too tiny to be usable.
Since people are now more likely to use their smartphones and mobile devices to view websites than a desktop computer, having a responsive and mobile-friendly site is more important than ever.
How can you make your website mobile-friendly? Google can test your site for you and tell you exactly what you need to do to fix it, and they also have general mobile-friendly guidelines to get you started.
2. ANALYTICS TRACKING
Your best friend when it comes to making your site better won’t be any general advice but rather your own data. By monitoring visitor traffic and key metrics like their time spent on page, you can gather data that tells you a story about your website’s best strengths and biggest weaknesses.
Setting up Google Analytics is quick, easy and free, and there are plenty of third-party services that can reveal even more detailed data about your website and its visitors.
3. NAP (NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER)
If someone wants to come to your business, or they want to find a business like yours, they will usually be looking for a few things: your business name, address, phone number and store hours.
The way you write the HTML code for your website can help them find this information in seconds, as long as it’s done properly. Google and other search engines use code called “Schema markup” to make fetching this information in search engines lightning-quick and highly accurate.
Schema markup can be added in seconds! All you have to do is check on your contact information page and/or homepage and ensure that the right Schema tags are included within the relevant data.
4. BASIC WEB PAGES
Whether you have an all-in-one scrolling website or separate web pages, you will want individuals to be able to easily navigate to your:
- Homepage
- Contact information
- Primary staff bios/credentials
- List of services
- Company information page, aka what makes you different from your competitors
Make sure the copy (the text on your page) is clear and concise and that it accurately describes what you do, especially on your homepage. Flowery language or creative branding is not discouraged, but the bare bones information is also critical for signaling to someone that they are looking in the right spot for the services they need.
5. CLEAR CALLS TO ACTION
If someone is visiting your website for a reason, like they want to book an appointment or a free consultation, then they should know exactly how to do that.
You can instruct them using a “call to action” or CTA for short. A CTA is an action-oriented instruction on-page that clearly leads a website visitor to the next step. An example would be to “look at the services we offer” statement on your homepage with a link to your services page. You can also use a “book an appointment for this service now” CTA with a button or link to your contact information.
CTAs not only help people navigate, but they can encourage someone hesitant about your services to take the next step.
6. LINKS TO ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES AND REVIEW PAGES
Chances are good that your company has a presence beyond its website. If you have social media pages or have claimed review sites as you should, then people should be given a clear path to these websites.
You can include small widget-style icons for websites like Facebook and Yelp on all your pages along with a possible “Visit Us on Social Media” page that collects them all in one place.
Linking to review sites is important because it makes happy customers more likely to leave reviews. You can also install website plug-ins that easily share great reviews right on your web page, helping you convert visitors into new customers by showing them trustworthy testimonials.
7. CLEAR CONTACT INFORMATION ON EVERY PAGE
Your business name and basic contact information should be visible on every single page. Many websites like ours tuck it neatly into the header, and having the information repeated in the footer is also common.
Businesses that rely on appointments can also feature a bold “BOOK NOW” clickable button on every page to make the process easier and to encourage action.
8. READABLE TEXT
Ensure your website text contrasts boldly enough with your background to make it accessible to a wide range of individuals, including those with sight disabilities. You can use a contrast checker to ensure your ratio is 4.5:1 or greater.
9. A GOOGLE MAP PINNED TO YOUR BUSINESS LOCATION
Having an integrated Google Map frame on your contact page can give people a clear map of where your business is located. It can also enable them to quickly import your location into their phone for quick navigation.
10. CODING FOR SEO BEST PRACTICES
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of principles intended to help your website rank higher on search engines for key terms related to your business. On-page SEO elements like the words you use in headers and in main body copy matter a lot, but so do the things most visitors can’t see.
Schema markup, meta descriptions, alt text tags and more can all help your page rank for certain terms while improving the experience of a visitor beyond what they see on the page.
Configuring all of these under-the-hood elements while ensuring your website incorporates all of the suggestions above can be incredibly tough, but an internet marketing agency like Optimized Scribes can help you get everything right.
Improve your website experience while making your company easier-to-find than ever on search engines when you get in touch with us today.
The post 10 Website Must-Haves For Your Business To Find Success Online appeared first on Optimized Scribes.
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