Any business is only as good as its website. In the fast paced, review focused world of today, having a strong online presence couldn’t be more important. Knowing this, you should understand that your website will be front and centre of your online world – your crown jewel if you will. So if having a great website is vital, how do you know yours is up to scratch?
Essential for any great website is a good, eye-catching design. Unprofessional, plain or ugly looking websites will immediately turn people off. If you’re putting people off at the first turn then is there any point in even having a website?! Rule No.1: Make sure your website is visually attractive and enticing to visitors.
Having a private domain name is another important first step. This tells your customers you’re serious about your company and it will also increase brand recognition. Rule No.2: No shortcuts, make sure your business / brand name is used within your domain address.
Easy navigation is also an essential tool in improving your conversion rate: if people can’t easily see where to go (i.e. clearly marked additional tabs and pages) and what to do (a clearly marked ‘Buy Now’ or Call To Action button / tab) they’re going to leave your website for a competitor. Rule No.3: Make it clear where people can find things and what they’re to do on your website.
As important as visual quality is your websites technical quality. Given how much of online traffic today is through mobile devices, mobile optimisation is vital. Some people (wrongly) believe mobile optimisation is the same thing as being able to view your site on a mobile device at all. This is not the case. Mobile optimisation ensures users have the optimum experience possible on your site, regardless of the device they’re viewing on. Rule No. 4: If people can’t easily scroll, enlarge and reduce images, and click on your site on mobile devices; then you are missing out on over 50% of current web traffic.
Constantly producing fresh content and not rehashing old topics will keep people coming back – your blogs, posts and articles should always be new and relevant. Rule No.5: If your site isn’t kept up to date there’s no reason for people to ever come back!
Quicker loading times are increasingly important and Google now penalises websites with slow loading times. The faster users get onto your website after their initial click, the less likely they are to get bored and click off. We live in an impatient, busy world and people are not going to hang around for your content to load. Rule No.6: if it isn’t loading instantly, you’re losing business….a lot of business!
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, you need to make sure your website is fully Search Engine Optimised. SEO is one of the most essential things for any website. No matter what your website offers or how good it is; if no one can find it, it might as well not exist. Connecting with social media, increasing your number of back links, updating frequently; these are just some of the ways you can improve your website’s SEO. Rule No.7: if no-one can find you, there’s no point you even being there!
You’ll find a website that follows all of this advice will perform substantially better than one that doesn’t, and better websites mean more business. So if you have a website that’s under performing, and you want our help to fully optimise it to get the best out of it: DigitalOx is here for you!
