Equal parts art and science, establishing a business website requires a careful blend of esthetics, psychology and common sense. Happily, a good business website builder like the one provided by Yahoo Small Business takes all those factors into consideration. However, platforms such as these also give you the freedom to customize your website as you see fit. With that in mind, here are some tips every business website builder should know.
Get to Know Your Ideal Customer
Whatever your business, the design and functioning of your site should be predicated upon the answer to the following two questions: “Who is my ideal customer and what do they want?” You can then design your site specifically to appeal to that person, virtually guaranteeing your efforts will resonate with them.
If you’re selling clothes to teenagers, the tone of your site should be markedly different than if you’re pitching municipal infrastructure support. This might seem obvious, but too many business owners miss it.
Quality Is an Important Consideration
If you’re just starting out, rather than getting caught up in a lot of different functionalities that add complexity and expense to the project, focus on the basics and make them as good as they can possibly be. Compress images to ensure faster load times (less than three seconds is preferable). Employ responsive design so your site will display and perform optimally in a mobile environment. In other words, do everything you can to be certain each visitor’s experience on your site is both pleasant and informative.
Pictures Speak Volumes
Whatever you’re representing, find a way to competently depict it in pictures. Use high-quality photographs and label them so search engines can find them. Original images are always preferred—if your budget permits. When you’re dealing with a complicated topic, video is a strong ally in your quest to inform. If yours is a service-oriented or professional enterprise, use photos of your actual associates and employees to add legitimacy to the presentation. Your goal here is to help potential customers envision themselves interacting with your offerings in a positive manner.
Calls to Action Should be Hearty & Visible
A basic axiom in sales is “always be closing”. Every aspect of your site should be designed to promote your products or services. In other words, it should always be closing. Robust calls to action are of tremendous help in this regard. Offer visitors incentives for taking the desired action and encourage them with language such as: “Get $100 in gifts for booking your free consultation now!” Calls to action should be featured prominently, so your users won’t have to hunt around for them.
Keeping these tips every business website builder should know in mind when you design your site will give you the best shot at attracting a strong customer base. However, while the process is indeed equal parts art and science, it doesn’t have to be rocket science. Let Yahoo Small Business help you get started today with a free consultation!
