Having a website for your small business is a shopfront or office front to a massive audience – the world wide web.
You can use it as a significant part of your marketing or depending on your marketing strategy. Your website may be the only part of your marketing plan.
Either way, I do recommend investing in professional website design services to ensure you’ve got the best web design to meet your needs. And ensure you’ve planned your search engine optimisation from the start.
Your website’s SEO can always be done later, but if you plan and roll it out from the start, you’ll get quicker results – i.e. climbing those search engine rankings.
And, of course, ensure you have a responsive website. Even in this mobile first world we live I still see websites that aren’t mobile responsive from time to time.
Increase your credibility and visibility with a website
A small business website is a fabulous way to not only showcase what you do but educate potential clients about your products and services.
But a website that’s working effectively for you can also:
- take bookings
- take payments
- facilitate or host courses
- sell your services or products
- be open 24/7
- a platform to share your knowledge on
What makes a great website?
There are six components we feel makes a great website from having:
- a plan
- clear goals
- ensuring your website is search engine optimised
- easy to navigate
- functional
- visually pleasing
- converts
I’ve covered most of the above points in great detail in How to design a rocking website part 1 and part 2 but let’s talk conversion below.
Design a website that’s going to convert
Converting your website visitors is extremely important as you can do all the right things to get traffic to your website. But it’s then vital that you do all the right things to convert your visitors into paying clients or customers. And this is where your website design and structure comes in to play. But if you’ve engaged a web design agency or web design company then they’ll be able to advise all on this.
1. Fabulous images
Include clear and concise images, especially when it comes to eCommerce websites. And product videos are even better to include to provide a positive shopping experience.
2. Be clear and concise
You only have seconds to grab a visitor’s attention and tell them what you do and how it will benefit them.
Think about how you’re going to set yourself apart from your competitors.
KISS (the age old saying – keep it simple stupid (no offence meant) can do wonders for a website. Bells and whistles aren’t always necessary.
3. Landing pages
Landing pages specific to locations and services can work wonders but have a plan when it comes to them, too, as they need a purpose.
4. Test and measure
It’s always good practice to test and measure your call to action on your pages as well as your lead magnet if you have one.
Different calls to action work for different audiences. Like SEO, it’s not a one size fits all.
Even colours can play a part in converting website visitors, and your website headings can even resonate with different audiences.
So, it’s essential to test and measure all that to see what converts your website visitors best.
5. Testimonials
Testimonials and reviews from clients, whether written or video, help showcase your credibility and build trust.
So, showcase these throughout your site.
6. Social media
Your social media presence comes into play too. Your website and socials can work hand in hand in delivering your messaging, building up trust and sharing your knowledge. Socials are also a great way to start building the relationship with clients and customers and helping them get to know you and the face behind the business.
Will a Cheap web design do the trick?
I’ve been in business a little while now but still remember how hard it was as a business startup. Not so much this time around as I design rocking SEO’d websites 😜. But my second foray into business some 20 years ago was ecom (my first was a brick and mortar store). And I knew nothing about websites back then, let alone SEO.
In my opinion, everything has a place. If you can’t afford a website at the start with all the bells and whistles, then choose a cheaper alternative.
But my best piece of advice here is to choose a platform where you can start laying your foundations right and can build on it. It’ll save you some $$ in the long run as well as some headaches.
There are a few things I recommend checking when it comes to using a cheap web design solution:
👉 Who owns the website: do you or the person that designed/set it up or the platform you use? Wix websites, for example, can’t be migrated away from their platform. If you outgrow it as businesses often do, it’s a new website built from scratch.
👉 do you have full admin access if you haven’t set it up yourself? Don’t be held to ransom and have to use a web designer to make minor changes or website design updates. If you choose to use your web designer, then that’s great. But I hate hearing about business owners being held to ransom by their web designers.
What’s next for your website?
Would you like a professional web designer or WordPress expert to build your website, or would a consultation to plan it out help get the ball rolling for your online presence?
I’m here to help. We even have a DIY website package that lays the right foundations for you, and then it’s up to you to add all your content and add some design flair.
Want to know more? Book a discovery call now to discuss your project’s needs.
