Today, most businesses have a website because it allows them to reach a wider audience. However, you don’t just make a business website and call it a day because you need to ensure that it’s doing the work for you. You need to constantly look at your website and make sure that you’re making the proper adjustments to keep it working in your favour.
A website is your advertising tool that’s never finished. It’s constantly evolving and changing with the needs of your business. So if you’re not taking a critical eye to your site, it’s easy to lose track of what works and what doesn’t.
In this article, we list some of the characteristics a business website can’t do without.
#1 - On-Brand Design
Your website needs to reflect your business’s identity, so the design of your website is one of the first things that people will notice when they visit your site. It’s also the first thing that will make you stand out from the crowd. And if you have a website that’s not in line with the brand you’re trying to portray, it could mean people won’t return.
If you’re unsure where to start, you can always hire a web designer to help you get started.
#2 - Ease of Use
Your website needs to be easy to navigate. The easier it is, the more likely it’ll be used. It also needs to be user-friendly because people want to find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible. You want to get people to the main page of your site as fast as possible because that’s where the information that’s most important to them is.
This means no unnecessary splash pages, slow load times, buttons or links that are difficult to see, or any other features that are detrimental to the overall experience.
#3 - Fast Loading Time
The number one complaint of people that visit websites is that they take too long to load. That’s a problem you’ll want to avoid at all costs, so you need to look into ways to speed up your site.
The first place to look is at the content. If you have too much for your site to display or load, it could be slowing down your design. Try breaking it into categories and showing only what’s relevant to the visitor.
You should also get an excellent hosting package to ensure that your site loads at its best. It needs to be fast enough not to lose people interested in your site’s content.
#4 - Updates and Maintenance
You don’t want to wait too long to update your site because you’re missing out on opportunities to improve your site when you do this. If you need to make changes, then make sure that you do so as soon as possible to stay ahead of the competition.
Don’t always think that you need to add new content to your site to be enough. Instead, think about how you can improve what you already have. You can always rewrite the content, edit photos, or move items around to freshen things up.
If you make changes that improve things, then you’re always moving forward. Don’t be afraid to take risks because there’s always a potential to gain something more.
#5 - Calls to Action
Your site needs to do an adequate job of promoting the different products or services you offer. If people are visiting your site, you want them to leave knowing what you’re offering. You want to create a sense of urgency around what you’re selling so they act fast.
To do this, you need to provide people with information that they need, and you also need to present it in a way that shows you’re a credible source. You want customers to trust you so that they’ll feel more comfortable taking the action you want them to take.
You can always add calls to action to your site that take people to the page on your site where you’re offering a particular product or service. This can be a button, a link, a video, or a podcast—whatever makes sense for your business.
Conclusion
A business website is the first thing people see when looking into your company. It’s what they’ll interact with most if they decide to learn more, so it has to be done right. Otherwise, you could lose a lot of potential customers before they even get a chance to see what you have to offer.
Discovery Design provides top-quality services for eCommerce marketing in Durham. We know that different businesses have different needs, so our solutions are catered to ensure that you meet your goals. Contact us today to get started.
