*This post was inspired by an article posted on September 4th by Entrepreneur Magazine.
This guide is helpful for anyone involved with either owning a website, or if you’re a web designer/developer. Either way, everyone can benefit from this list of 6 elements that should be included on each site.
- Reviews, Reviews, Reviews Your customers should know what other people think about your business reputation. There is no better way of doing that by pushing your existing customers towards website where they can do just that. Google +, Facebook, Yelp, Merchant Circle, Yahoo, and others.A study conducted by BrightLocal in 2014 showed that over 85% of potential customers read reviews for local businesses. So why not incorporate this into your marketing strategy and ongoing game plan.
- Socialize & Connect Everyone knows the viewership of websites like Facebook, Twiiter, Instagram and the works. Following the sentiment “go where the people are” rings true, especially when you are spreading the word about your business. Use your Facebook page to post updates and specials, use your Instagram to share work, or a picture of your current project or day. Connect with people to show them that you and your business are doing work, and well, alive!
- Keep Your Site Visually Appealing Sort of a no-brainer when it comes to web design. Make it look good. Period.
Although appealing design can mean different things to different people, as an industry standard, these are some safe measures to follow for a clean, modern and visually appealing design:- Using 1-2 modern fonts, no more than 2 usually.
- Using colors that blend well together. Traditionally, choosing a main color for your design, plus maybe a few colors to accent the main design theme.
- Adding textures to the page to help bring some creative detail to areas that can use it.
- Proper usage of images to help portray a certain message in your design
- Navigation should be easy to find and use, period.
- Don’t Make Anything Hard For Your Visitors Are you wanting them to fill out a contact quote form? Then make the form visible and easy for them to find.Are you trying to offer a great discount or deal? Advertise that deal somewhere that’s noticeable on your site.The more hoops you require your customers to jump through in order to reach your overall goal, the less likely they will convert to an actual paying customer.
- Keep Things Fresh Keep your content updated by frequently adding new events, new stories, maybe incorporating a blog into your existing site. Not only for Google, adding content and keeping things fresh will help your customers understand that you are keeping busy and thriving.
- Human Interaction How many websites have you been to that when you click around, it just feels like a robot has/is managing the site?Let your customers know that there is a real person running the show, not just an automated site designed to bring in traffic and revenue.Making contact information accessible is a very nice way of doing this. By hiding the contact information of you or your company, you’re just once again making more work for a potential customer.
Until Next Time,
Josh Olswanger
Thrive Web Designs – Your Boise Web Design Team
