COVID-19 has changed the traditional methods of working globally. Small and big businesses are managing their work from home and many consumers are also spending more time online. This drives us towards becoming a part of the digital transformation of our society.
A study conducted by MIT showed that digitally mature enterprises are 2% more profitable as compared to those who are not. With more Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) coming onboard digital platforms, a website for businesses becomes a definite must-have.
If you’re a business owner and you’re thinking of creating a small business website, here are some useful web design tips.
7 Web Design Tips for Successful Small Business Websites
1. Invest in copywriting
Good copywriting is beneficial for both your customers and the search engine – the two most important audiences of your website. Investing in your website’s copywriting is a great way to stand out from the rest of your competitors.
Many companies make the mistake of not engaging experienced copywriters to write content for their website to save costs and focus only on their website’s design, however, having a good copy is equally as important.
A website without any traction is a useless portfolio. Having experts that are trained in content creation will help you tremendously given the high competition on Google Search.
Put in the effort to get that extra edge over your competitors because the quality of your content will truly make the difference. Make sure that they will be interested in your work and will start to read.
2. Start blogging on your website
It’s true that designing a small business website should be simple and appealing. But if you want to increase your search rankings, showing consistency in your content is the key.
As digital marketing experts, we are always asked why blogging is important for a business. Well, a blog allows you to provide value to your consumers through useful information about your industry.
It is an excellent aid in terms of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), and improves your site’s overall searchability and visibility as well. It also puts your company as an authority in the industry, thus building confidence among your target market.
From our experience as a web design agency, SME business owners usually don’t have the time to write content. This makes them miss out on opportunities of being more visible to consumers.
3. Work on a marketable landing page for Google ads
A landing page is a standalone web page created specifically for your marketing or advertising campaign. It’s where a visitor “lands” after clicking on a link or an online ad.
Landing pages lead customers to a specific product or offer and encourage them to take action. It’s the simplest and most effective way to generate more sales, leads or traffic to your small business website.
A good landing page is free from distractions, as users would want to be directed to the information they need immediately. As such, your landing page should seamlessly provide users with the information they came for.
It must provide a frictionless experience for you to capture their interest and eventually secure a sale. This is one of the more important web design tips that you have to look after.
4. Invest in digital marketing tactics
Business owners determine their website’s success through its ability to maintain consistent traffic and reasonable bounce rate. Never let your website be stagnant. When existing and potential customers see a noticeable stretch of inactivity, it can lead to an immediate loss of interest and confidence in the business.
An inactive website would equate to having no clients. So, you must set aside a monthly budget for advertising to keep your customers engaged. By investing in digital marketing tactics, you would be able to attract more audience and gain more revenue.
5. Make navigation easy
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Would you be annoyed if the loading speed of the website is long? Or perhaps that you would have to take over ten clicks to get to the content that you want?
Plan an efficient user journey to ensure that your customers can seamlessly retrieve their needed information from your website. Many first-time business owners take pride in putting up their first website.
They want their website to stand out among the rest by choosing elaborate designs and various features. However, if a customer is unable to get the information they need quickly and seamlessly, they would not hesitate to leave your site and look for other options.
Form a strong foundation through building a website that can be easily navigated by your customers. If you hire a professional web design agency you can overcome navigation issues.
6. Understand web hosting
A web host or a web hosting service provider gives you the technologies and services needed for your website to be accessed on the internet. When you look up hosting services, you will find a wide range of options out there.
But how would you know which one to choose? It’s vital to invest in one that has a complete package and would provide you with all your website needs.
Cheap hosting services typically don’t have round-the-clock technical support. So when your website crashes, it would be challenging to seek help from them. Be sure to do a detailed research before committing to a hosting service.
7. Protect your website
Security is essential whether you are running a small business or big business. On an average, over 30,000 websites are hacked every day . That number is also going up every day and the importance of website security is increasing rapidly. Cyberattacks damage your reputation and discourage visitors from coming back.
That being said, investing in an effective website security application is necessary to ensure that your website and its data won’t be exploited in any way.
As a small business website owner, it is also your responsibility to protect your visitors or customers from phishing schemes, session hijacking, malicious redirects, spams and most importantly, stolen data; it can be their personal email addresses or payment information.
Credits
Article & Images from Verz Design