Designing a website for your small business can be tough. Especially when you are taking on the task yourself. What should you include? What can be left out? What do your customers expect to see? All valid questions to consider to ensure you have a website that gets visitors and turns them into loyal paying customers.
1 // Easy Navigation
Provide clear navigation to give users a positive experience on your website. Having to work out where the navigation is and where to find the information you need is annoying. Cut out any frustration.
- Try to understand what your customer needs/wants from your website.
- Write down must have pages (the essentials).
- Do you need any sub pages to provide further information.
- What do you want visitors to do on your website – send enquiry, learn about your service, get a quote, view your gallery.
- Then think about the flow of pages. If you were a potential customer what steps would you go through to buy your kind of product or service. When you have that clear, you can create navigation that takes them through that process.
2 // No faff
I believe in keeping things simple. No fluff, no faff. If it doesn’t add value then it shouldn’t be there.
Taking up space and distracting the visitors from your message will not make them inquire about your services or buy your product. We are in an age of instant gratification. We expect answers quickly with minimal fuss. Scrolling through 40 photos, reading 5 paragraphs and visiting multiple pages will not generate leads.
- Keep pages simple and free from clutter.
- Limit the bells and whistles – slideshows, animations etc are fine in moderation.
- Embrace white space – give text and images room to breathe with a more padding.
3 // An actual about page
As a consumer one thing that grinds my gears is about pages that don’t actually say anything. Generic waffle isn’t what people want to see. They want to know your story, who you are and what your values are. As a small business, connecting with customers is vital and the best way to do that on your website is with your about page.
Even large companies utilise their about pages to include a real-life glimpse at founders and ethos – MailChimp, SiteGround and Twitter.
My about page is one of the top 10 pages on my website and a large majority of my clients tell me they decided to work with me because of getting to find out more about me. Take a look at your analytics – how often do people visit your about page? Are you overlooking its importance and underutilising your about page?
4 // Answer questions and share the benefits
Writing content is one of the stumbling blocks many small businesses hit when designing their website. It’s not always easy to write about your business, products and services in a way that appeals to your audience. It’s helpful to take a step back and get into the mind of your customer.
What problem do they have to seek out your product or service? Now you can then write content that explains why you have the solution.
- Address the problem
- Give the solution
- Explain the benefits of why you can solve it
- Back it up with testimonials
5 // Contact details on every page
Want more enquiries, sales and leads? Make sure it is easy to contact you. Big and bold on every page. The simplest way is to add your contact details or button at the top of the page and on the footer. If you can add buttons or links to contact you throughout your text, do it, let’s make it super simple to get in touch.
6 // Add call to actions
What is a call to action I hear you say? A call to action is something you want the visitor to do. Common actions are ‘sign up’, ‘start a trial’, ‘buy now’ – all nudge the visitor into taking a particular action. Think about what actions you want people to take on your website and add one to every page.
7 // Case studies & testimonials
Share the love given to you by your happy customers. Having real testimonials from the people who bought your product or used your service is a fantastic way to give you credibility. Studies show that 9 out of 10 customers look up reviews for a local business before buying. With 68% more likely to purchase if they see positive reviews.
Designing a website for your small business? Here are 7 things to include on your small business website to turn visitors into loyal paying customers.Struggling with designing your own website? Get in touch to discuss how I can help through my consulting and website design services for small businesses.
