In this post, we’re sharing the do’s and don’ts of creating and managing your business website so that you can establish a strong online presence.
Do: Make it Mobile Friendly
According to
research from Zenith, an estimated 79 percent of people browse the Internet from their smartphones. That number alone should be reason enough to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices. Sometimes, business owners focus on the desktop version of their site, and don’t consider how it will appear on mobile devices or tablets. It’s important that your website looks clean and professional to every visitor, regardless of the device they are using.
How to do it: Most website builders make it easy to preview your website’s mobile format and make changes specifically to that version of the site. Any time you make a change to your website, be sure to check how it looks in the mobile version!
Don’t: Forget About Branding
It can be easy to get caught up in fun design features of your website builder, and forget that this is a representation of your business. Although your website’s function matters, you should make sure that every aspect of your website reflects your branding. If it doesn’t, it will be difficult for website visitors to recognize that the site belongs to your business.
How to do it: Include your company’s color scheme, logo, and slogan in your website design. In addition, keep your branding consistent on your website, social media, physical location, and print materials.
Do: Conduct Keyword Research
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is something you should consider while creating content. By conducting SEO research, you can determine keywords that are relevant to your business that will help you show up in search engine results. There are a lot of details that go into an SEO strategy, but using keywords is a major part of it, and one that’s relatively easy to incorporate into your website.
How to do it: Using tools like Google’s
Keyword Planner make it easy to pinpoint the keywords your customers will be using in their searches. Use those keywords in your page title, meta description, and throughout your website text to give your page a better ranking on search engines.
Don’t: Forget to Update It
If you make a website with a great design and excellent content, but don’t update it, it won’t be the marketing tool you need it to be. New content will keep visitors engaged, along with improving your SEO ranking. Search engines use bots to regularly scan for content and update search results. Hopefully, producing fresh content will keep your website at the top of the list.
How to do it: Be consistent when updating your website. We suggest publishing blog posts regularly, and your informational or pricing pages should be updated too.
Do: Make it Easy for Customers to Contact You
Even if you have a user-friendly website, it won’t matter if visitors are unable to contact you. Not only will providing contact information allow customers to reach out with questions and comments, but it will also build credibility for your website visitors.
How to do it: Start by creating a contact page for your website. Provide your phone number and email address there, or a contact form for customers to contact you directly. If you have a brick and mortar location, be sure to include the address. Don’t forget to add links to your social media account as well!
Don’t: Try to Do It All Yourself
Creating and managing a business website requires skills you may not have and time you may not be able to afford. Due to this, it’s important that you don’t overextend yourself, because you could end up with a final product that looks unprofessional.
How to do it: Instead of trying to design or manage your website independently, hire professionals handle web design tasks.
Conclusion: Create a Great Website to Impress New and Existing Customers
A well designed and regularly updated website can open your small business up to a whole new audience. The resources you put into building and maintaining your website will pay off when you start attracting new customers and seeing an increase in online sales.