16 Tips for a Better Website
Many website owners want a better site to get better traffic in, but are not sure where to start and what to do. A better site does not necessarily mean a brand new one; just a few tweaks here and there can make a difference on how people feel about your site. Here are some great ways you can add an oomph to your website:
1. Condense your menu
Do you have too many items under every heading on your navigation bar? Perhaps it’s time to tidy that up a bit and make it cleaner and easier to navigate. This makes things easier to find. This in turn, makes visiting your site a better experience for your visitors. There will be less chances of frustrated people going back to the search page to look for another site too, since they can find things easily here now.
2. Have a call to action on every page
Does your every page make your visitor act on something? It should. Whether it is to watch a video, look at a menu, look at your company’s history or order a book. Whatever it is, the user should know what to do. Remember, they want to be led when they are on a site. They don’t want to do the thinking. Whether you lead them by a button or a link, lead them to the action you want them to take.
3. Put your phone number on your
homepage
There should be a phone number on every website. As obvious as that is, many websites don’t have phone numbers on them. People sometimes have to hunt for a number and when they don’t find one, they move on to the next site. Remember, many visitors go to a site to look for a contact number, so have it right there. The best place is the top right hand corner or the footer.
4. Add business hours
As important as the phone number, many visitors go to a site to check on opening hours. This is an important detail for customers so put up your working hours.
5. Add an about us page
When a consumer picks a company to deal with, they would like to know who they are going to be working with. It is a good idea to have an ‘About us’ page to make a customer’s experience a bit more personal. Put up some pictures about your team members and their bio data. Show your visitors that there are real people in your company.
6. Use big, bold images
They say a picture says a thousand words. Images speak more than words, which is why this concept works. Capture your visitors with good pictures that speak for your product, your team members and your company.
7. Add a directions widget
Directions are something everyone needs, unless they have a GPS. Show your customers where you are located with the help of a directions widget.
8. Make your site mobile-friendly
With over 50% of the mobile phone population owning a smartphone, one of the most important things you need to do is to have a mobile-friendly site where users don’t have to spend time zooming in and out on their screens. There are many inexpensive ways to create a mobile website from your site. Be sure to do this.
9. Match your company branding
Brand awareness is a big thing today. if you have changed the color of your logo or the colors of your company, be sure to add these changes in all areas of your business so that customers can relate to it and can recognize your brand easily.
10. Cut the distractions
Some websites have music and splash pages on their site. Our advice to you is to remove these things if you have them on your site. Music can be annoying for many visitors and can also be a big distraction for some people.
11. Get social with your customers
If you have not hopped onto the social media train as yet, it is time to do so. The whole world and more are on social media these days and you may be losing out on a lot of potential clients by not being on it. Interaction and recommendation is the thing of today. People thrive on community building. get started with a Facebook page and a Twitter account and start socializing with your clients.
12. Add industry resources
If you want to be the type of company people should go to, add some reliable resources to your site. These could be surveys, reports or even helpful links. All this shows customers how well you know your product.
13. Put your customers to work – add testimonials
The biggest asset a company can have is their customers. They are the ones who will give you both positive and negative feedback. How the food is the best, how the product lasts long, etc. Reach out to these customers of yours and put up these testimonials on your site. This can do a lot of positive marketing for you.
14. Figure out your site’s main goal
Ask yourself why you have a website and what you hope to achieve from it. Then set out to accomplish this by adding relevant pages and deleting unnecessary ones. Make the goal of your company a priority and make your pages speak the same.
15. Start from scratch
This is not usually recommended because it not only takes up too much money, but also time. However, if you have got a very old site and it seriously needs a good revamp, you should opt for this. A brand new site can bring in lots of visitors.
16. Hire a professional
Sometimes, hiring a professional website designer helps because they know the nitty gritty of things that should be done and taken care of. They will bring lots of expertise and experience into your project.
