In the Digital Age, web traffic is everything. Most people nowadays much prefer the convenience of shopping from home, or learning information about companies on their websites rather than calling or leaving their houses to visit a brick and mortar establishment. These days, if you don’t have a website, you’re already obsolete. But with so many businesses online, how can you get your new business’s websiteto stand out from all the rest?
Internal Searching
An internal site search is an optimal way to help your customers out and insure their continued return and use of your site. Many websites have external searches, which takes viewers to a third-party search engine, such as Google, and advertises your competition higher in rank on the engine. This can frustrate someone specifically looking to search your site for given information. Basically, if they wanted a Google search, they would have gone to Google in the first place. Internal search engines keep the customer on your site and help them find the specific information they are looking for without advertising any other businesses.
Keep Your UX “UF”
Having a user-friendly experience is the biggest benefit to building your website. Keeping your site fast by limiting embedded videos and large pictures will make sure you don’t lose people as soon as they enter. Text shouldn’t be anunconventional color, as this can be off-putting and clash with the background and be difficult to read.Having a good mobile version of your site will also speak volumes to your users. Finally, make sure there are no annoying pop-ups, whether third-party ads, or asking for subscriptions. These can be jarring and will frustrate users who have to sift through mountains of these on a daily basis.
Complete Information
Far too many times users will visit small business websites in search of information on products or services, only to be met with more questions than they started with. If you’re selling something, give as much information on your products as possible. Specifications on certain products can be just as important to some more picky consumers, and sometimes more important, to include as pricing and those paragraphs of copy. If you’re offering a service, try to think of every question your customer or client could ask, or every issue that may occur, and address these somewhere on your site. You can add a FAQ section for easy reference. The more information you gather and display on your website, the more types of customers you will receive, as users will not flock elsewhere to get their information.
Press the Big Red Button!
Some companies try to be sleek and modern with a minimalistic webpage, but this is just unhelpful and frustrating. Having large buttons that are easy to find and read will make sure your site is easier to navigate than these other ones. These large buttons are called CTAs, or ‘Call to Action’. You’ll want your users to quickly and easily find all information at the click of a single button. Good CTAs to use are ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Get Started’, and are always helpful. For example, shipping companies usually have a ‘Track Package’ CTA. Keeping these buttons a drastically different color than the rest of the page will immediately draw the eye and give you the user that much more chance of clicking on them. Any button that can instantly transport you to the most common service of your site, or gain you a new customer or client is obviously beneficial.
Keep Your Website Up to Date
Consistent posting of events, sales, or any goings-on will tell your users you are active, engaged, and will keep you ranked highly in search engines. If a user comes onto your website and sees a sale that ended three months ago, it’s not going to look professional, especially if they try to order a product or service at sale price. Not only do you have to post regularly, you must also keep your software up to date to prevent hacking and keep your site safe for your business and your user base.
Keep it Conversational
Having your copy written in a friendly and common language will make your users feel smart and engaged. Large, obscure words or industry jargon run the risk of making your users feel uneducated. Lazy users will lose interest, and more inquisitive types might research words and terms they don’t know and get distracted looking at other sites, completely forgetting why they went to yours in the first place. Have your copywriters speak in a relatively informal tone. Phrases like, ‘you’, ‘we’, and ‘us’ are perfectly acceptable as it draws the attention of the user and formulates a feeling of unity and solidarity with the company. It’s no longer just them searching by themselves, you’re there to help!
Add Comment