Your business website is equivalent to the world’s view of your front door. If it isn’t interesting, inviting and enticing, the world won’t ring the bell and ask to enter. There is no one single trick or trait that makes your website a successful front door to your business. A good business Web design is dependent on a combination of factors, each just as vital as the other.
There is also a plethora of websites that offer up advice on how to fashion a website that draws customers to your business. If you’re just starting out, the U.S. Small Business Administration is a good resource. They offer website and marketing tips for any business. According to one researcher, a user visiting your website makes a decision about the appeal of your website in one-twentieth of a second. The image you project with your front door makes all the difference.
What are the best features for your business website to use if you want to grow your business? Here’s a few suggestions:
- Keep it simple and usable. Your website isn’t helping if your visitors can’t understand how to use it. That means designing your website with your customers’ needs first and your personal preferences on the back burner. Keep your content, purpose, and target audience in mind when building your site. A website that is both appealing and easy to use is the foundation of a great website. Don’t leave home without it.
- Clear communication, in any language. Websites are meant for communicating. If your business is international, offer visitors a choice of website languages. A good example of this is found at the website of Start Elevator. Visitors have a choice of viewing in English or Italian. The switch between the two language modes is smooth, immediate and seamless.
- A picture is worth a thousand words. A successful website must be visually appealing to potential customers. There has to be text to convey your message in clear, precise terms. But there also needs to be visuals to enhance it all. Photos, videos, graphs, and charts all display your message at a glance. Make sure that glance is enticing and exciting.
- Trust is everything. Simply put, if people don’t trust you, they won’t do business with you. Your website and your social media presence should all exude one basic message: “You can trust me.” Your site should do everything it says it does. Links should go where you say they will. Advertisements should be clearly labeled as such. Be upfront and honest or customers won’t be back.
- Catch the attention of search engines. Search engine optimization is the name of the game. You must use the right HTML tags to attract search engine hits. This means proper tags in page titles, headings and links. Check into Google Authorship for assistance in surfacing your webpage content in search engine results.
Take the time it takes to build an effective home page website, then build from there. Keep the front door of your business inviting and enticing so that when the world comes knocking, they’ll want to step into your world and stay awhile.