Having a website for your business – no matter the size – is the new norm. From mom and pops to Fortune 500’s, people want to know that you have a presence online. While making a name for your business online is important, just throwing a webpage up to have an online presence isn’t going to cut it. In the end, a poorly made site can actually end up hurting your online reputation rather than helping it.
Your website is the online face of your business. It represents your company to the rest of the world. A poorly designed and badly written webpage can provide a poor user experience and give an unprofessional representation to your clients. Would you want to have typos, incorrect or confusing information, or blurry photos up on a billboard? No. It’s the same with posting a website online. You’ll want to avoid these types of errors.
The design of your site even affects your results and ranking with search engines. Google has “spiders”- special software robots- crawling the internet and taking note of everything that’s on your web pages. These spiders report back everything they find and Google uses these results to give each site a ranking. Google takes this part of it’s ranking very seriously, as they only want to provide results that are useful to it’s searcher. Having a bad site can have a negative impact on your ranking and precious Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
A webpage with filler content or that is “Under Construction” for long periods of time does not offer a positive user experience. Clients will come to your website seeking information only to be faced with blank and useless pages. An experience like this is discouraging to the consumer and will cause them to click away from your site, with an unlikely return. Google measures these clicks and visits as well, to keep tabs on what results their searchers find most helpful. This again will decrease your SEO ranking, bringing your site deeper into the search engine’s results page.
Now that you understand the importance of establishing your online presence, here are some tips for getting it right the first time around:
- Have a User Friendly Layout
- Use an easy-to-follow site map: Customers want to find what they’re looking for fast!
- Make sure you have a clear call to action visible. Do you want them to call, email, or apply for a free estimate? Tell your visitors what the next step is.
- Think about usability on mobile devices, or even consider responsive design. The number of mobile users is always increasing.
- Pick a Professional Design
- Think clean. Use nice logos, clear photos, and easy-to-read font and colors.
- Don’t use Flash or sounds. They don’t work on every device, load slowly, and can be perceived as annoying.
- Be sure to edit! Make sure your site doesn’t contain any typos. You want to put your best foot forward when explaining what your business is all about.
- Provide Engaging Content
- Write content that is relevant to your business and industry. Impress customers with all you have to offer.
- Only have unique content. Using copied or filler content hurts your ranking with search engines.
- Use keywords relevant to your business. This will help increase your ranking on search topics most applicable to your customers. (But don’t overdo it!)
- Only post current and up-to-date information. Providing visitors with incorrect information makes for a poor user experience and is unlikely to convert them into customers.
Having an online presence is no longer an option. But, you don’t need an extravagant website to build a solid presence. This thought is how most people get in over their heads and can’t produce a quality website. A few well-done pages, made right, will fare much better for your business than a poorly done oversized site with multiple pages of “fluff” or “under construction”. In the end, a high-quality website will get you the recognition online to bring you more leads and conversions. If you build it well, they will come!
Interested in improving your business’ web presence? Learn how Propel can help with Web, Mobile, and Responsive Design!
