Tips for Great Website Design for Small Businesses
Every business needs to have a great website if they want to compete in today’s market. Even if a company is not selling any product online, there still needs to be a website for customers to browse. Most people now do a quick web search when they are looking for something in particular. This helps them see what products are available at the brick and mortar store and how far the drive to get their will be. A business that isn’t online doesn’t have a chance at that customer base without having an online presence. The following are some tips for great website design that can help put your company on the map.
The Reality of Keeping it Simple
Many people want a website that has all the bells and whistles but in reality this is not a good idea. Websites that are full of flash graphics take way too long to load and just make a website look too cluttered and messy. They aren’t great when people access them from their mobile devices either and you actually lose business. Have a simple site that shows off your products or services to their best advantage. You can use some fun graphics for your logo or branding just don’t go overboard with them or make them the focus of the site.
Ease of Navigation
It is vital that your website be easy to navigate through or customers will get frustrated. Make sure all links are working properly so when they are clicked on they go to the right product or area of the site. Run a test on your shopping cart, if you have one, to ensure the process for making the final purchase is easy to complete. You want to make everything as simple as possible for your customers. If their online experience with your company is hassle free they’ll be more likely to be repeat customers.
The Importance of a Site Map
Most business owners don’t think about their website beyond the products and shopping cart. Hey, if people can find what they want and buy it easily that’s enough right? Wrong. SEO is a very important aspect of a website. SEO stands for search engine optimization and is the criteria that search engines look for when choosing which sites to put first in a search query. One thing a website must have if you want it to be a page one search result is a site map. This should contain a link to every page on your website in order to be effective. If your website designer has not included one or if you’re designing your site yourself make sure that you have the site map included.
Websites are a vital part of any company’s marketing strategy and must be included in order to compete in today’s market. Keep your site simple and make sure all the links work for your customers and make it easy to navigate. Finally, include a site map for SEO results so your website can climb to the top of the search results which will bring more income to your business.
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