The importance of a quality website cannot be underestimated when running a business. A website can be seen as a digital shop-front, as it is often your customers first interaction with your business; so it’s vital to get things right!
1. Don’t leave out a contact page
This is such a simple mistake that I have seen time and time again. Having a contact page is one of the most important parts of your website. If your potential customer has no way of contacting you then you are losing all the potential leads right there. Provide at very least a company email address and preferably a phone number too.
2. Have a FAQ page on your site
Having a FAQ page is a great time saver as it eliminates the need to answer the same questions over and over again. Fill this page with answers to questions you have previously answered, and cover the less straight forward aspects of your business. The main reasons someone visits a website is for information, so why not give people what they want.
3. Fill your website with informative content
It’s a good idea to fill your website with informative content about the area of expertise you cover. This can be done in the form of a blog. The first reason is because it builds credibility – consumers are likely to buy from those who appear to be knowledgeable about their field. The second reason is search engines such as Google, are able to pick up on real content as opposed to sales copy. This in turn helps boost your ranking and acts as a SEO method.
4. Optimise your website for search engines
Do some research into which keywords best relate to your business. Make sure you include these keywords as much as possible in order to maximise your search results in Google. Each section of your website can be optimised for different keywords, however it is important that you optimise your home page and contact page for the same keyword. Make sure the keywords you choose are actually related to your business, Google can pick up when you have loaded your page with unrelated popular keywords such as ‘Justin Timberlake” and ‘iphone’.
5. Create your website with mobile integration in mind
In recent times smart phone use has increased dramatically, in particular iphones. It has been predicted that the number of iphones in Australia in 2013 will be 5.29 million, accounting for 39.4% of the Australian smart-phone population. Therefore if you decide to create your website using Flash, 39.4% of smart phones users in 2013 will not even be able to view your site. Creating a mobile integrated website is becoming essential as you simply cannot afford to miss out on potential visitors to your site.
– Marcus Holder works for 1house – a full service agency providing businesses with everything they need to promote their business; online and offline. They specialise in web development, branding, SEO, social media marketing, business systems, copywriting and PR.
