Are you looking to create a successful business website that attracts potential customers and generates sales? Building a website from scratch can be daunting, but it is essential for any successful business.
The right combination of search engine optimization, marketing strategy, content, and design elements can create an engaging and effective business website. This article will explore the essential components of a highly effective business website – from understanding your target customers to optimizing for mobile devices.
Stand out from your competition with a creative and professional website – DIY or enlist a web development agency help!
Step-by-step Guide to a Profitable Business Website
Learn best practices to make your business website easy to find and effective at converting online users into paying customers.
Begin with a great domain name.
Choose a domain name that reflects your brand or captures the essence of your business! It is possible to have multiple domains that direct to the same website. Your domain names should be easy to read, say out loud, and spell. Avoid hyphens or numbers where possible.
Place your contact information “above the fold”.
Make it easy for potential customers to connect with you by highlighting the critical information about your business!
Grabbing their attention with the first content they see can be the difference between a bounce and a sale.
Get connected with your customers on social media through links accessible on the website header or footer.
Navigation should be easy and intuitive.
Limit your top-level navigation menu to three-five clearly labeled tabs, with related pages organized under them. Also, offer a way to return to the homepage from any page. A Google search often lands visitors on a page other than the homepage.
Effective navigation is fundamental for websites with a high proportion of mobile users, which applies to the majority of today’s websites.
Reduce the clutter.
Provide readers with enough contextual information while avoiding information overload. Balanced text and graphics allow for a well-organized page.
Consider whether the information you are providing is relevant to your readers. If not, remove it.
Ensure that your content is accurate and regularly updated.
Always proofread each page before and after publishing to avoid incorrect information, such as wrong numbers, outdated product information, or grammar errors.
Keep core business info up-to-date across your website, social media, Google Business, and other directory listings.
Let our Managed MarketingTM plans give your website an edge with new content and updates at whatever pace you require, monthly, weekly, or daily.
Have a call to action on every page.
Every page on your website should act as an incentive for the reader. Ask them to do something that will benefit your business and provide them with a clear way to do it: a button, link, or form. Make sure your call to action is easy to find.
Keep your content presentation simple.
For your human readers, keep the text simple, and limit fonts, colors, and animations. Paragraphs should be fewer than six lines. Use bullet points to make content easier to scan and understand.
Clear and concise content will also influence Google. Well-organized content with descriptive headings and answers to frequently asked questions may appear higher on the search engine results page (SERP).
Be authentic.
We recommend authenticity over professionalism. You can use stock photography and catchy jargon, which may not appeal to your target customer. Using original photography, personal histories, and informal language will attract customers to the personality of your business. This will set a foundation to engage with your customers on a deeper level.
Make sure your website copy is customer-oriented.
Engagement is essential. Customers visit your website for useful information. They may be seeking educational content from a blog or researching your products and services. You should provide relevant material to engage prospects, supply valuable insights, and strengthen their trust in you.
When creating website content, focus on the customer’s perspective. Ask yourself what useful information they would need, and what topics require a deeper level of explanation. This approach can create an experience that keeps customers engaged and fosters long-term relationships, resulting in conversions.
If writing isn’t your strong suit, consider outsourcing the task to a professional copywriter.
Make your site mobile responsive.
A mobile-responsive website is essential for any business. It’s important to ensure that your website is designed to look great and function smoothly on all devices, including smartphones and tablets.
A mobile-responsive website automatically adapts to the size of the screen it’s being viewed on. It eliminates the need for multiple versions of a website for different devices.
A responsive website makes it easier for customers to find and use your website while they are on the go. Having a website that is mobile-responsive is essential for delivering a positive user experience and enhancing your search engine rankings. Google prioritizes mobile usability and advises that websites should be optimized for mobile devices with speedy loading times and intuitive navigation.
Incorporate SEO best practices.
Investing in paid promotions may seem attractive, but free organic search traffic can be a more cost-effective strategy for long-term conversions. To do this, you’ll need to incorporate best practices for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Crawling, indexing, and ranking are three of the primary factors that search engines use to determine which websites appear in their search results. While there may be other factors at play, these three elements are crucial for ensuring that search engines can discover, analyze, and rank your website.
Crawling: Search engines find websites through links from other sites, but it’s not just about the number of backlinks. Quality and relevance are more important than quantity. Focus on building high-quality backlinks from authoritative and relevant sources.
Indexing: Search engines analyze various factors to determine the relevance and quality of your content. While keywords are important, you should also prioritize creating high-quality and original content that provides value to your audience. Keep your content fresh and up-to-date, as this can help search engines recognize that your website is active and relevant.
Ranking: Search engines use a complex algorithm to determine the ranking of a website. Authority is a crucial factor, but it’s not just about the size of your site or how many links you have. The quality and relevance of those links matter more. Additionally, the user experience of your website can impact your ranking. Make sure your site is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and provides value to your audience. Demonstrating expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) can help improve your site’s authority and overall ranking.
Feel the need for speed.
Having a website that loads quickly is essential for achieving online success. Slow-loading pages can negatively impact the user experience, resulting in lost sales.
Research conducted by Search Engine Journal revealed that almost 70% of consumers consider page speed when making purchasing decisions.
Website speed is also a critical factor for search engine rankings. Google has stated that fast page load times are important ranking factors for both desktop and mobile searches. When pages load slowly, search engines penalize them, leading to lower visibility and traffic to the site.
To improve website speed, website owners can take several steps. These include optimizing images and videos, reducing HTTP requests, and utilizing a content delivery network (CDN) to lower server response time. By prioritizing website speed and taking the necessary steps to improve it, website owners can provide a better user experience, boost search engine rankings, and increase sales and conversions.
In conclusion,
Implementing SEO strategies, conducting keyword research, creating content, and running advertising campaigns are necessary to generate website traffic.
You may want to consider engaging a professional service for web development, branding, SEO, and content marketing to help create your website and landing pages.
Mediastead would love to be your digital marketing agency. We offer the expertise you need to build and manage a high-quality and effective business website.
Call or contact Mediastead today to schedule a free strategy session.
