Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash
Whether you’re thinking about setting up a website for your business or you want to update your existing one, there are a number of things you need to consider when it comes to creating something that is going to be successful. Whilst you may be able to bring in customers with a simple website that lists your products or services, there are several things you can do to ensure your website is bringing in more than enough business. Whether it’s focussing on SEO driven content or using stunning imagery, your website gives potential customers their first impression of your business. With that in mind, here are 9 things every website needs to succeed:
- An Easy To Remember Domain Name
One of the first things you need for your website is an easy to remember domain name and URL. Whilst this isn’t essential, having a web address that is easy to remember will allow people to easily visit your site without having to search for you. They can simply type your address in a bar – whether they’ve seen it on a flyer or someone has told them in person – and they will be on your site in seconds. Keep it short, relevant to your business and ensure it is on brand. For a guide to setting your domain name, you can visit this site here.
- Strong Branding Throughout
Another important thing to consider is the branding on your website. As a business owner, you will have brand guidelines that you adhere to on a daily a basis, all of which should apply to your website too. Whether it means you use your business logo, you use the same fonts or your website uses your brand’s colours – ensuring people see the same branding wherever they look is important as it will make it easier for them to remember you. If you’re struggling with your branding and think you will benefit from some extra help, you may want to work with a marketing agency. For more information, you can visit NetSearch Digital Marketing.
- A Clear Message That Is Easy To Understand
Not only do you need to have strong branding, but you also need to ensure your brand's message is easy to understand and is clear when you visit your site. Whether it’s showing the products that you offer or presenting your values to your customers, this should be clear to people when they visit your site. Often this is the hardest thing to do, so having people test your website and write down what they think your message is can really help. Not only will you get customer feedback, but you will see how well people have understood your website and your brand.
- Incredible Imagery That Resonates With Your Brand
Often when it comes to setting up a website it is the imagery that lets it down. Although text is important when it comes to ranking in Google, people often skim the text and look at the images on a site. Whilst you may not be able to afford a professional photographer for each and every photo on your site, it’s definitely worth investing in if you want to create a site that is visually pleasing to your customers. For a guide to working with a photographer as a business, you can visit this site here.
- Attractive Videos That Showcase Your Product Or Service
If you want to take the previous point a step further, having attractive videos that showcase your main products and services is a great way to attract attention. Not only can these be reused on your social media channels, but they’re a great way to show that you’re forward-thinking and professional when it comes to business. Again, they’re expensive to create but they are well worth it when it comes to return on investment.
- An Easy-To-Use Navigation System
Having an easy-to-use navigation system will ensure that visitors to your site have absolutely no issues when it comes to finding the information they need. Whilst a lot of pages run off one main standalone page, those that have a range of products may need to have a number of different categories and pages. If this is the case, make sure you make it as easy as it can possibly be for people to find the products or services they are looking for. The longer someone has to spend looking for something, the more likely they are to go looking somewhere else.
- Corresponding Social Media Channels
Alongside your website, you may also want to consider setting up social media channels that can be used to attract people to your site. Using social media to gain traffic can be incredibly difficult if you don’t have a following, so the sooner you get these set up and start building an engaged following the better. If you’re struggling for things to post, start by considering what your target audience may want to engage with.
- Regular Content That People Want To Share
As well as using social media to attract people to your site, regular blog content is a fantastic tool. Using well thought out blog posts, you can your target audience directly to your site. Whilst this may take some practice and a lot of work, regular content is also great when it comes to improving your rankings in search engines. For a guide to producing regular content for your website, you can visit this site here.
- An On Call Support Team
Finally, you may want to consider having a team of people on call that can help you if you experience any issues. Whilst you may never need them, you never know what could happen when it comes to the internet. Whether it’s an issue with payment or your whole site suddenly goes down, the sooner a professional can fix it, the better.
Are you looking to build a website for your business? What do you need to ensure it has in order to be successful? Let me know in the comments section below.
