| The Secrets Every Small Business Owner Should Know to Have a Successful Website |
10. Add a resources section to your site for newsletter articles, partner links and synergistic resource sites related to your industry. Again, these links improve search engine indexing of your site, can give your referral partners exposure to your visitors (which in turn they will feel compelled to give to you) and provide more value to your visitors. Resource-rich sites give visitors a reason to visit your site again beyond just “checking you out” the first time.
11. Add a search capability for visitors to search for topics of interest on your site. This could be as simple as a flat Google search utility, hosting provider’s tool or a full-on searchable database site. If your site is resource-rich, you will want to give your visitors an easy way to find information.
12. Keep your pages short. No one likes to scroll (especially horizontally), and the information below the line of site will not get exposure to your visitors. Give them a reason to click and read more on another page. In the wise words of a great business mentor, “A Confused Mind Says ‘No’.” We all want to hear “yes” several times over on our websites.
13. Resize graphics outside of your web development program. Resizing within the program can result in slow page downloads or distorted images. You want your pages to load quickly and look attractive in order to engage with your visitor.
14. Be consistent with your visuals and fonts. If you are adding a page, make sure it is based on the layout of existing pages. That way, your visitor will know exactly where to look and click. It is also more professional.Remember, there are only a few fonts in common with all computer users, so if you want to use a fancy font for a header or headline, it will have to be a graphical element, and will not be recognized as text by search engines (however, image Alt tags will help).
15. Find ways to make your site “sticky” and likely to be referred to others. Surveys, assessments, calculators, educational material, news, funny or interesting photos, videos, etc. are all great ideas to make your site sticky. Remember, they must be relevant to your business and tastefully used. Leverage content from synergistic partners. They will be happy to provide it to you if they get exposure to your site visitors.
There are many more things you can do to increase the chances of a successful website, but these basic strategies are a good start to help improve your results.
If you would like a complementary review of your site, give us a call at 404.373.8019 or email us at info@naturalmarketingservices.com. We are happy to let you know what you can do to enhance your site or do it for you if you are interested.
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by Bernadette Peters
Everyone knows how important a website is to the success of a business. Whether you use it for prospecting, credibility in your business development, or as an automation tool for sales or operations, your site has to be easy to navigate and relevant in today’s marketplace.
You might be working with a web developer, creating your own website or directing an employee to do it. Regardless of who is working on your site, it is a good idea to be informed and direct the process as the leader of your business.
First, you will want to Begin with the end in mind! Determine what the primary and secondary purposes of your website are before you begin. Consider the other marketing channels you leverage, and your target market.
Do you want to attract prospects, generate interest in your product or service, replace employee hours by automating certain business functions, and demonstrate credibility? If you at least get some high level clarity on what you want, and are going to work with a web developer, they should be able to guide you the rest of the way with a questionnaire, strategy session or requirements document.
Here are the 15 key elements to consider when creating or updating your Website:
1. Since the average number of pages visitors view is 1.2, what you put on the home page is imperative. Include the pertinent information they need to make a decision to take the next step with you in case they don’t click for more information. At the same time, you do want to compel them to click to other pages and spend as much time on your site as possible.
2. Include your contact information in the header, rather than the footer. It is important for it to be visible on each page, especially your phone number, so the user doesn’t have to scroll down or click the contact button when something resonates with them. If you list an email address, link to it. If you list a physical address, link to directions or a mapping site. Also, be sure to link your logo or header to your home page.
3. Cross Link between pages, using key-words within articles and text to connect to other pages (this is good to keep the visitor on your site longer and will help with natural search engine rankings).
4. Link to pages outside of your site. This helps with search engine rankings and provides value of to your visitors and in some cases with your synergistic partners. Remember to open all external sites in a new window so the visitor never leaves your site.
5. Capture visitor email addresses into an email engine. You must have a compelling reason for visitors to want to give you their email address. A free white paper, an offer, newsletter subscription, registration to a free event, etc. are all great reasons, but even then, be sure to give them a sample of what you will be offering so they will recognize the value.
6. Add Alt tags to the images and graphics for better search engine recognition. This is the text you see when you mouse over images on websites. This text is indexed by the search engines, so make sure it is relevant to the engines as well as your visitors. Also, all of your graphics files are indexed by search engines as well. “logo1.jpg” means nothing to your visitor since no one will ever search for that. Use relevant keywords as image names as well to increase results in natural search.
7. Create pages for case studies and testimonials. Link to them from quotes or statements on each site page. People rarely visit the “testimonials page,” so why not serve up great comments and success lines to capture your visitor’s attention on each page?
8. Consider promoting a web-only invitation for a complementary or low-cost/low-risk consultation. This can work for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies if crafted tastefully. The key is getting your visitors to take action and say yes to you with little risk so that they will continue to say yes as a life-long customer.
9. Add articles as you produce email newsletters, blogs & bulletins in order to create “stickiness” that visitors will want to bookmark and refer friends and colleagues to. Before you know it, your site will be resource-rich, higher on the search engines and have even more value than just being a brochure for your products or services.
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