The internet has quite literally changed the world in ways humanity would never have thought possible. You can order a pizza, buy products, link with friends, the list goes on and on. People live their lives through the internet. This is why most businesses use a website or have some kind of online presence.
You simply can’t avoid it in this day and age. If you do, then your business is missing out on a huge chunk of the market share and a glut of sales and opportunities. Whatever business you operate, it pays to have a website of some kind. Always, with no exceptions.
However, there is a stark difference between using a website, and using a website that makes a difference. The internet is stuffed with all kinds of websites. What makes yours stand out, what makes people want to click it more than other websites. There is an art behind the creation and running of the perfect website.
It takes time, skill and experience to run it to a proper extent. This will come in time, but in the meantime you can accept help from places that offer it. These hints and tips can help set you on your way to a great website.
You need to put the work in and do what you can to make the most of it, and there is no guarantee it is going to succeed. You may have considered some of these already, but persevere because they can stoke your ideas to new heights. Good luck with the website!
Seek professional advice
Some people are too pig headed to do this and they are usually the people whose websites fail and wither pretty sharpish. Seeking professional advice can come in a myriad of ways. You could literally just need some advice, or on the opposite end of the scale you could need complete web design services.
Whatever you decide to do try to get some kind of input from people who really know what they are doing, your business will be all the better for it. They could put a halt to a silly idea that would make the site unstable or they could suggest something that will make it far better than it already is.
This could be advice off a friend in the industry or someone who knows what they are doing. You may have the skills to build your own website, even then you should be careful and seek the advice of someone else just for added security and a general second opinion.
Find a good host
A host is the server your website is based on, you usually need to pay a monthly fee for this. The fee varies of course depending on what you need. If you think the site is going to have a huge customer base then consider paying more for less sites on the server. You’ll have a more stable connection and it will ensure your site never goes down, meaning you can serve customers in a better way and ensure that your sales don’t take a hit.
Get the design right
Even if you are approaching a web design company you need to know what you want. You need to be sure you have exactly what’s needed by them too. Know what kind of colour scheme you want. Have a logo ready. Your branding needs to be reflected in the website to increase customer recognisability.
You must facilitate the web developer’s creation. Be on hand and only settle when you have exactly what you want. There’s no point going live and then deciding you want something else entirely.
You need to get it right first time around so you can consistently build a user base. There’s a difference between being helpful and being a pest, but still be on hand and try to get what you want and need whilst also taking on board what they say. Try to keep the total pages limited.
Work off feedback
When your website goes live there may be one or two things still wrong with it or final glitches to iron out. It happens all the time, as is the complex nature of coding. They may be so small and little that you don’t even notice them yourself until a complaint pops into your inbox.
On your website, give the browsers a clear contact address and make sure you view all correspondance. Feedback is an amazing way to make things better. It also shows you are engaging with your customer base which goes far in building trust and likability.
They may spot things like empty pages, annoyingly hard to navigate areas or even glitches that stop them clicking on certain products. Extensive use of your site will identify these problems for you to address and analyse.
It may come to the point that you have to pull your website down to work on it, if you do, inform customers of this before doing it so they know when to expect you back online and that you haven’t gone offline forever. Interacting with customers in this way is a great way to interact with the all important customer.
Allow reviews
It depends on what kind of website you operate, but if it feels right you should allow the customers to review each product on their. This lends a level of trust into each product or service you offer or sell.
As a result, people will be more inclined to purchase it. If they are products you have created it can be daunting, but let it go. If you believe in it enough then there will be no issue at all. It can be the difference between multiple items sold and just a few.
If people aren’t leaving them, then solicit them. Send emails asking people to write reviews for you for products they have bought and they may be receptive. Not all will be, of course, but some will and they will surely make a positive difference.
Think about visibility
You need to use things like Google analytics to check up on your visibility. You also need to consider SEO. People aren’t going to purchase from you if they don’t know anything about your business. You need to allow them to know about it. Put it in front of their faces.
Just think, how many times have you clicked through to the second or third page in a google search before finding what you need? See. It really does matter. You can pull people to you in differing ways too. Think about using blogs that post about similar things that you offer.
If you sell laptops, then look for a blog about tech and advertise with them. Write an article and create a link back to your site on it. By doing this you can pull in not just any old customers but customers who are clearly interested in the kind of products or services you offer.
Again, social media can do something similar. Millions of people from hundreds of different countries use the varying types of social media each and every day. Create a business page and post quality content with links just like you did on the blogs. This will pull people to your website.
Just remember not to make it similar to clickbait because doing this may turn certain potential customers against you. People really do hate clickbait. Increasing visibility in turn drives your sales up and promotes word of mouth, which is the best sales weapon available.