As a business, when it comes to having a website, it is no longer optional, it is a critical component to your business’s success. Let’s face it, if you don’t have a website for your business, you are losing customers before you even have them. In this day and age, consumers trust businesses more if they have an established online presence, they can easily learn more about them while they are conducting research from home or on mobile device, and they feel like they are real because they can see and read reviews about them. If you are lacking a website, you are missing out on opportunities to reach potential customers and grow your business.
Okay, so you get it, and you have a website, but is that enough? The answer is simple, “No”. Just having a website doesn’t necessarily mean increased business and customers. Your business’s website needs to contain certain elements and components to truly make it effective. What are the most important things to include on your website? Let’s review.
What are the Most Important Things to Include on Your Website?
Your website represents your business; therefore, you should nurture it, observe it, and ensure it is converting leads into customers, just like you would any other form of marketing you use. Your website is just as important as, if not more important than, the sign hanging outside of your business’s door. While we know there are website no-nos, what are the most important things to include on a website?
Your business’s contact information. We are going to start with the obvious most important thing to include on your website, and that is how people can contact you. Business websites that lack ways for consumers to contact them, are just a waste. Making sure visitors can easily get in touch with you is one of the easiest ways to generate leads. Accurate and thorough contact information makes you look accessible, and that in turn makes people trust you and proves you are a credible business. You want to make sure you provide several ways for people to get in touch. These could include email, phone number, business hours, an address which can be added through a Google maps link, and direct links to social media profiles. The more you look like a legitimate business and like you want to hear from consumers, the more likely you are to convert them into customers.
A clear description of who you are and what you do. When consumers are looking for a product and service and researching a business, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to understand who you are, what you do, and how you can help them. Make it simple for them so they don’t turn elsewhere. From the moment a person visits your website, they should not have to do any work to find out who the company is. By simply stating your name and summing up your products and services on the homepage, you can save viewers from confusion and frustration. You want to attract the attention of your viewer within two to three seconds of them entering your site so that they stay to learn more. Keep it short and sweet, but get to the point of how you can be the solution they are trying to solve for.
Customer testimonials and reviews. Around 90% of consumers look for and read online reviews before visiting a business, and of those people, over 90% of them trust those reviews (Search Engine Land). One of the most important things to include on your website, are reviews and testimonials from others. Let your customers do some marketing for you, and make the things that they have shared and said about their experiences with your business, readily available and easy to be found on your website. People trust what others have to say, and letting them know that you are proud to display your company’s reviews, and making them easy to find, will help convert viewers into customers.
Is your Website up to Par?
There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to your business’s website. While we have reviewed some of the most important things to include on your website, you should also keep in mind that keeping your website current, having fast load speeds, having a current SSL certificate, being optimized for mobile, and more, are also extremely important.
Do you need a new or updated website? We can help. At Water Bear Marketing, we strive to make you stand out. Water Bear Marketing builds websites that are optimized for advertising, lead generation, and sales. We build all websites customized to our clients’ needs.
Water Bear Marketing is an expert at developing new websites or bringing old websites up to the latest industry standards. Request a free consultation today to learn more about how we will help make sure your website is doing its job the best it can.