- Why should my business have a website?
- How can a business website help me and my customers accomplish goals?
- How do I create a strong website?
Imagine Ellie owns Elluminati, a neon sign store. She carefully designs her store to create a great shopping experience and to showcase her flair for neon.
But when it comes to her website, she figures that since her company is a small brick and mortar business, her website’s design and content don’t really matter. Or do they?
Actually, a website is an extension of your business. Just like your business’ physical location, you want your website to have prime real estate, showcase your brand, and convert browsers into buyers. What type of website might help Ellie do that?
The good website works because it provides information like the business’ address and phone number, lets customers shop online, and showcases Ellie’s flair for neon.
The first step to creating a strong website is finding a prime location, which on the internet is a good domain name (AKA your web address).
You can use websites like GoDaddy or Google Domains to search for and register available domain names. Don’t forget to renew your contract annually to avoid losing it.
Consider including a keyword in the address. Elluminati is a clever name, but people might not find it if they do a search for neon signs. Adding “neon” or “signs” can help people find Ellie’s business more easily.
Use the .com extension if it’s available because it’s the most widely recognized domain name extension.
TIP
Set up a custom email address on your domain, like [email protected]. This will make your business look professional, and can help increase brand awareness among people you email. You can get this set up by using Google Apps for Work, Zoho Mail, or Rackspace Mail.
Your website should satisfy your customers’ needs, while helping reach your business goals like raising awareness, driving sales, or collecting leads.
To raise awareness, start with the basics: business name, map location, and contact details. Consider putting your contact details in the footer of every page and encourage customers to email or call if they have questions.
Have an “about us” section explaining what your business does and stands for. Link to your business’ social media accounts, and have staff bios and customer reviews to help visitors get to know you.
Next, include features that are unique to your business. For example, if Ellie makes custom signs, she might want to create a page that allows customers to design their own sign or see different designs for inspiration.
To make contacting your business easy, and to help you to stay in touch with customers, create a form on your “contact us” page, where they can input their details. Don’t ask for too much information, or they might not fill it out.
Search engines pull words from your webpages to understand what the website is about, so it’s important that the website’s content is descriptive.
To make sure your website covers all the relevant information, use the 5 W’s: who (Elluminati), what (neon sign store), when (10-6 daily), where (123 Fake St.), and why (unique neon creations by lighting expert, Ellie).
If you think it would be helpful to explain your product or service in more detail, create a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section to allow customers to learn more about your company.
Finally, make sure to use font sizes, colors, and other aspects of design consistently across your website to make it look presentable and professional.
Now that you’ve seen how website design and content can help your business.