How to take your business website to the next level

It’s no secret that a website can hugely boost your business.

While the time of physical stores is by no means over, more and more people prefer to go online for their shopping needs, whether they’re looking for products or services.

Even tiny start-ups have carved out a place online, as an online store is often cheaper to set up and run than a physical office, especially if you’re working from home.

With this in mind, it’s clear that an online business is a way to go. A website can help you find more customers both in your local area and even around the world.

More potential customers mean your business can grow and develop far faster than otherwise.

Therefore, it’s simply good business sense to go where the customers are and use a venue they are more comfortable with, which means a website is necessary.

However, the work doesn’t end with simply setting up a website and leaving it there. Your website is competing with thousands of other websites, all selling the same thing as you.

You need to ensure that your website stands out from the rest so that customers are more likely to choose you. Here are some tips to help you to level up your website.

The right website platform

Most people use a website builder to design and set up their websites. In short, a website builder is a platform that allows you to create a website and usually provides a platform for your website as well.

Different builders and websites offer various services, and not all website builders are created equal. However, if you haven’t set up a website yet, you can use your time to plan precisely what you need from it.

Suppose you are just using the website to advertise your business, explain your services, and provide a point of contact between you and your customer.

In that case, you won’t need the same capabilities as an ecommerce website where you will be using it to sell your products directly. However, a blogging website will also have different requirements.

As well as the tools you’ll need on your website, and you must ensure that it can handle the traffic you expect.

Websites are often hosted by the platform you’ve used, so ensure that the hosting capacity is enough for your website to run smoothly and quickly.

There’s nothing worse than a slow, unresponsive website. If your customers get irritated browsing through your site, then they are more likely to leave and less likely to make a purchase.

You also need to consider your technical capabilities when picking a website designer. An amateur can achieve some surprisingly professional-looking results using templates and building tools, even if you aren’t that tech-savvy.

However, if you need a more complex website or don’t have the time or ability to design your website using these tools, then you can always hire someone to do it for you.

In any case, the best way to develop a fantastic website is to start on the right foot. Switching platforms and providers of an existing website can be possible, but it’s tricky and may cause severe disruptions.

Sometimes you may have to start from scratch, making things more difficult. However, if you find a much better platform, even this disruption can be worth it.

Attractive and intelligent design

It’s no secret that people like to enjoy visually pleasing things. The same applies to websites. People lean toward unique, attractive, understandable, and eye-catching designs. The key here is balance.

Something can be eye-catching and unique, but it doesn’t mean it’s attractive or easy to understand.

Even something beautiful doesn’t work well if it isn’t clear what the design is trying to convey. Therefore, your website design should be linked to your brand and tell a clear and compelling story.

People should be able to navigate your website easily, without frustration. Part of this comes down to the technical aspects of designing a website, but part of it is as simple as intelligent design.

Illegible fonts are always a bad idea, even if you like how they look. Instead, integrate colors and images into your design. When in doubt, choose a design that is simple and evocative. 

As well as making your website look pretty, you should also consider the layout and structure of your site. This makes it easier for you and your customers to use.

Every website typically has a home page, where customers can easily navigate the rest of the site, as well as an about page, a contact page, and other pages that allow them to learn about your business and buy products.

Ensure that your website is laid out intelligently and easy to navigate. If your customer can’t find your products, then they won’t be able to buy them. Add a search bar. 

Good content

As the saying goes, content is king. Content makes up most of your website, including words, images, and videos.

Your website should explain your business concisely and interestingly so that people know exactly what you offer and continue to feel engaged.

Every website will have different types of content depending on what you need to achieve. However, the goal should always be to make something that people want to read.

Many business websites include blogs and other instructional guides to provide more information. This extra content achieves several goals. First, it encourages people to stay on your website and can advertise your product or service.

For example, an instructional guide will teach people how to use your products and establish your company as an authority. This makes them more likely to trust you to provide your service.

You can demonstrate how valuable your product can be to them. Videos are especially effective for this, as people can see how you can help. 

Secondly, content provides a golden opportunity to utilize your SEO. SEO, short for search engine optimization, is a passive marketing strategy that every business website should use.

It uses content in conjunction with search engines to funnel people to your website. For example, SEO uses specific keywords or phrases people are more likely to search for.

A search engine will scour the internet for these keywords and will use them to determine how relevant a website is to the customer’s search parameters.

Using links and backlinks to your website and other sites will also create more connections. Furthermore, making it easier for your website to be found by both search engines and customers. 

It doesn’t matter how good your website is; if people can’t find it, it won’t do you any good. Finally, good content is engaging.

If you go into a physical store and the proprietor is friendly, knowledgeable, and entertaining, you’re likelier to like them. Because you like them, you’re more likely to want to buy their products or use their services.

The same principle applies to your website. Content is your opportunity to talk to your customers. So while the lion’s share of the content on your website might well be text, it’s essential to include other media as well.

People take in information in different ways, which is why images are helpful to illustrate your point. Some people learn best by watching videos and getting a video and audio component.

Functional tools

As well as basic design features, your website can include tools to help you and your customers. One fantastic tool is live support chat.

Customer support is a vital part of any business, as it keeps your customers happy and makes them more likely to return and use your products or services again. 

So, what are the benefits of adding live chat to a website? First, this provides an instant customer support option. If there’s a relatively simple issue, it can be dealt with quickly.

Even if it isn’t, it gives the customer a quick and easy way to contact your team and find the help they need. An instant avenue of communication is never a bad thing.

If you plan on creating an ecommerce website, you will need to include shopping baskets/carts and an easy payment method.

Most web hosting platforms allow you to provide an option to pay via Paypal, which makes things easier for you and the customers.

As well as tools to make life easier for your customers, it would help if you also used tools to help you to collect data and track customer interactions.

This will allow you to spot any issues on your websites, such as abandoned shopping carts and other signs of a problem.

In turn, it allows you to continue to improve your website so that you and your customers can continue to work together. 

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