Many times, when building a website, business owners focus on one or two things that are important to them, disregarding what is truly needed. It could be a detailed history of the company or a logo matching color scheme. While these are great aspects to a company website design, it shouldn’t be the main focus when creating or revamping a site. There are other factors that should be taken into consideration and included during the design phase. We will go over the top 6 elements that a business website must have.
Prominent contact information
This is something that we see too many business owners miss, time and time again. If a prospective client or customer can’t find how to reach you, they will move on without thinking twice. People visit the web for information because they can get it fast and without too much work. When your site slows down the user or makes them work for what they want, it’s not surprising that they will go somewhere that provides the information quickly and without hassle. You have to be sure that your phone number, address and hours of operation are all easily found on the homepage of your website.
User-friendly design
Website designers in Greensboro, North Carolina, and even nationally, like to tell business owners that a professional looking site is of the utmost importance. While we do agree, professionalism should be a no-brainer. However, if your great looking site is hard to navigate, has too many calls-to-actions, or is lacking the correct pages, the design is worthless. It is critical to design a website with the user in mind, always. An easy to navigate menu, clear calls-to-actions and information that people want to read are just a few things to keep in mind during the planning stage of your new website.
Mobile dedicated site
You are probably well aware of the mobile internet boom in the last few years. In 2015, 80% of internet users owned a smartphone. That number is expected to rise every year with a forecast of 90% by 2019. In other words, if your site isn’t mobile, you are in trouble. When we say a mobile site, we don’t just mean able to be viewed on a mobile device, you must have a mobile dedicated site. Not only do you need this, but you need certain aspects such as a click-to-call button and easy to read content. If you don’t think keeping up with the times applies to your business, remember that Tower Records and Blockbuster didn’t either.
Calls-to-actions
You caught us. We did mention earlier that a site shouldn’t have too many calls-to-actions but it does need some. And good ones. You must decide what you want the website visitor to do when they get to your site. Do you want them to call you? Request service? Buy a product? Fill out a form? What types of calls-to-action go well with your website? A slideshow? Side bar button? Pop-up form? All of these questions can be answered with the help of a website designer.
Blog
A blog isn’t just a platform for stay-at-home moms to voice their opinions on breastfeeding and cloth diapering anymore. A blog keeps your site current, positions you as a leader in your industry and search engines love it. Major corporations like Coca-Cola, Walmart and even Caterpillar have discovered the benefits of blogging. We find that many business owners don’t have time to write content regularly so we offer this service to our clients. Whether you do it yourself or have someone else do it for you, a blog is a must-have.
SEO
A well-designed, user-friendly website is pointless without search engine optimization, SEO. In a nutshell, SEO allows your business site to be found on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. Your goal should be to outrank your competitor on SERPs, search engine result pages. Certain elements come into play when designing a site that does this, including keyword research, keyword usage, meta tags, image tags, categories, schema formatting….you get the idea. If you aren’t highly trained in search engine optimization, it’s best to consult a specialist, like us, or you may end up hurting your rankings rather than helping them.
Looking for an esteemed company to provide you with website design in Greensboro, NC or aren’t having any luck in your area? Give Biz Boost Pros a call at (336) 355-7555 or schedule a free consultation here. We offer our design, SEO and many other online services to businesses nationwide.