When you run a small business, installing certain website essentials for your site will keep your customers returning. And you know returning customers will save you the money you will spend on re-targeted advertising. While quality user experience and effective functionalities are the biggest reasons while users return to small business websites, there are other useful resources you can use.
Poor website loading speed can be extremely harmful to businesses. Most consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or fewer. 79% of shoppers reported they would not return to purchase from a slow-loading website. Additionally, another 75% of consumers admit they judge a business’ credibility based on its website design (MarkBrinker)
Hence, it’s clear that having a functional and well-optimized website is vital for success in the business world. But what are the essentials and for a great business website and how long does it take to effect them? That’s what a lot of our conversations will cover in this content.
What is a Business Website?
A business website acts as a space to provide general information about your business or a direct e-commerce platform. Whether you create a simple website that has a little about your business or an e-commerce site complex, the most important thing to do is to make clear what your company does, on the homepage in simple terms.
In building a great website, you must put into serious consideration the pathway of your user. And an added advantage would be to possess web analysis tools that help you track their behavior on your site. It doesn’t matter the fundamental goal you have for your business website, it’s important you simplify the process for users.
10 Small Business Website Essentials You Need for Your Site
Getting overwhelmed when starting with a website project is normal; there is a lot to consider. While every business is unique, there are some things you should always plan for when you’re designing and developing a business webiste. These business website essentials include:
1. Clear Roadmap
Certainly, your small business website should be aesthetically pleasing, but most importantly, useful. Before choosing a server or writing an HTML tag, you need to define how you want your website to function. This is important for both user experience and SEO, as Google takes site content and structure into account when ranking the search.
A good trick would be to create a site layout diagram and take it out. This is what designers call “grid layout,” and run it with a few friends to make sure it’s logical and intuitive. You can plan this journey using a lot of applications although Adobe XD is quite the favourite choice.
2. Mobile Optimization
Smartphones and tablets are influencing increasing numbers of web traffic, and the numbers will only increase as mobile devices become cheaper and more ubiquitous. Mobile internet use had increased significantly. 53 percent of web traffic worldwide came from mobile users in 2019, compared to 56.7 percent from desktop users.
This didn’t come as an enormous surprise because, as far back as 2015, Google reported that more searches were conducted on mobile than on any other device category. Hence, if some one searches for a club on their smartphone, they will probably be waiting to hit a club in an hour. Therefore, it is better if your website can be read on mobile devices.
Responsive website design allows you to use flexible offers so that your website design adapts to the screen you are browsing. You can enter HTML code to fill the sidebar, to transfer 20% of the width of the screen, with the remaining 80% reserved for your website text. Formats are adjustable and images are scalable to provide a better web experience on a wide variety of devices.
3. Strong Call to Action
It is never enough to present interesting content and options on your website; You need a strong call-to-action statement at the end of every piece of content to turn your viewer visitors into action takers. Your goal must be to help them build an understanding of your offers and ultimately make a purchase.
Never assume that your visitors know how everything works; a great marketing funnel is all you need. However, use calls to action throughout the sales funnel and subtly guide them through each stage of the process. It sounds simple, and it works in a simpler way.
4. Easy Navigation
Big, busy navigation bars and visual menus went the way of the dinosaurs. Effective and simple frames took up higher attention as it became a strong demand among other website essentials for individuals and companies with websites.
The design of the site should completely incorporate the mobile and desktop platforms, especially since up to 60% of internet access is now via mobile devices, and 34% of mobile users use it. People primarily use mobile phones to access the web, rather than laptops or desktops.
Studies have shown that ghost buttons have lower conversions compared to solid colored buttons, which are easy to see in an image page. By all means, use the Ghost buttons sparingly, in places where you won’t get lost. And remember, when it comes to web design, the simplest is generally the best.
5. Strong Security
If you sell something online, do your best to protect your site with an SSL certificate. SSL will encrypt communications between you and your customers (ie, credit card number, social security number), easing their fear of providing such information.
To make securing your website easier, Google Chrome already displays a message saying “Your connection to this site is not secure” in the address bar of all pages without the HTTPS prefix. While it is too early to get consistent numbers, sites without up-to-date HTTPS addresses will probably lose visitors, who may view the site as a potential security risk. Make all the necessary encoding adjustments now, so you don’t have to worry about it later.
6. Compelling Imagery
When you use them efficiently, images on your site can send a serious message to your viewers, which is more effective in communicating your brand, message, and/or products and services than text-based content. So, you must start by making sure all the images on the site convey the desired message, then look for ways to stress these images.
An increasingly preferred medium is the use of “heroic” images and banners – large graphics that take up most of the visual screen and are moderately overlapping with text. You can also achieve a similar effect by using large background videos, which has the added benefit of delivering information faster than text.
Alternatively, you can borrow the aesthetic from Pinterest and use card-style graphics for multiple products, which can clearly represent multiple options on the same page. Large product images on sub-pages also convey information to the viewer quickly and efficiently, even if guests don’t stop to read the accompanying text.
7. Quick Loading Time
If you can, please stay away from elements that slow download times for your site. A clean, minimalist design will go a long way in projecting a classy, contemporary look.
Concentrate on using fewer photos more impact (see “Hero photos” above), short text, “cards” style options and options shortcut menu. You can also see an increase in speed switching to a flat or nearly flat design, which eliminates unnecessary elements like removing background shading and 3D appearance. You can also use shading where it is most useful for a half-plane boundary that balances aspects of both approaches.
8. Great Hosting
If you can’t mess with your accommodation, then you shouldn’t joke with that of your website either. There are a plethora of site hosting options, however, your choice of a host would be a platform that aligns with your goals. Poor website hosting can cost you dearly. A slow site is frustrating and a site that can’t load is unpleasant, and both can put customers down.
However, besides annoying users and increasing the bounce rate, poor hosting can also affect your search engine ranking, as many search engine algorithms detect the loading speed of web pages. You can use GTMatrix to check the speed of your site.
9. Social Media Integration
There are many social platforms and their presence should promote them on your site because social networks are an important part of marketing your business. Although not a traditional business, the intelligent Socialander marketing team does an outstanding job promoting many social channels on the website.
Incorporating these platforms into her website will help boost her SEO, improve her business presence on the social web, and build a following on multiple social platforms.
Is it worthwhile to maintain your presence across multiple social platforms? Yes, provided you keep your content will keep your brand at the forefront of their interests and will keep users engaged.
10. Contact Information
Arguably, the most important business detail is the contact information. When your visitors cannot contact you, then it poses an enormous challenge. Every excellent website must have a number, email, address and contact form that can be easily and visually accessible.
When entering an email address or phone number on the site, never upload your contact information as part of an image; the number or address must be clickable or copied directly from the site to make the call or send an email quickly and easily. Most smartphones these days have click-to-call capabilities on the web, so make the process as easy as possible for users.
Don’t you want your phone to ring non-stop? You only need to use one email address, but be sure to reply to your emails in a timely manner. And have an email address for your domain.
Using Gmail, or worse yet, your AOL email address is unprofessional, and that’s what you’re after. If you like the Gmail interface, you can use Google Apps to set up custom email addresses through Gmail; it’s free for up to 10 email addresses.
Conclusion
It is not enough to have a website just for your business. A website should be the visual and virtual online representation of everything your business stands for and strives to achieve, from “reducing the appeal” of your home page, usually the first thing visitors see, to product pages., services and content you create.
Installing necessary business website essentials would improve your user experience, draw more customers and site visitors while ensuring the security and functionality of your site. And you know the type of boost increased visitor numbers can do for your business.
Although you now know these business website essentials, installing them requires experience to a large extent. You might choose to do it on your own, but you might lose time and money connecting developers, UI/UX Designers, Content creators, and other members of the team. Instead of doing this, simply book a free consultation session with us today by clicking “I want a Free Consultation Session”, so we can facilitate the process for your business website.
