Regardless of your business size, you need to have a website. In the same way that people used to browse shopping malls, looking at storefronts; people now browse the internet, looking at websites. If you want to attract new customers to your business, you need to be accessible to them in a digital sense. Micro-moments of need necessitate a digital presence.
However, it can be hard for smaller businesses to have the resources or the energy to build and maintain a website. Newpath web specialises in small business web development services, and have a list of tips and tricks that we utilise to make your first website experience a positive one.
Choose a Simple Platform
Every website runs on something called a content management system (or CMS). Your choice in CMS is important in that some are harder to use than others. Our first tip to easily create a successful small business website it to go with WordPress as your CMS of choice.
WordPress is remarkably easy. Even just the fact that it is the world’s most popular choice in CMS, both in terms of websites utilising the platform, but also in terms of developer sentiment, means it’s a good choice. Regardless, WordPress has extensive template support, requires zero coding skills, can be formatted as an online store and has a remarkably simple user interface.
Remember Your Customer
If you’re running a small business, you clearly think that you have something to offer your particular industry, and you must understand your customers. This means that it’s integral for the website to be constructed with them in mind.
This isn’t just about attitudes and beliefs but stems more from user behaviour and desires. Do your customers usually require a lot of information before they choose you? Then give them lots of landing pages. Do they like products to be classified by type before being sorted by gender, colour, etc.? Then make sure you do that.
By maintaining your customers’ interests at heart throughout the entire development process, you can more adequately deliver on what they might be looking for. This even allows you to potentially entice new customers to your business.
Make Sure Your Site is Optimisable
One immense benefit of having a website is that you suddenly appear in organic Google search results. Google will list your website, even without you asking, but when you first start out, you won’t rank very high.
Of course, this can all change. Search engine optimisation is an element of digital marketing that allows you to highlight particular elements of your website to push your ranking on Google higher and higher. There are very distinct ways of doing this, and you want to make sure that your website can handle it.
WordPress has fantastic plugins to assist with search engine optimisation, but you also want to make sure that your website template is equipped to display all relevant information (both on the backend and the front). Template providers will clarify beforehand whether they can handle this type of optimisation, so read thoroughly.
Blogging is Crucial
To quote the most over-quoted phrase: “Content is King”. And it’s as true today as it was 20 years ago. Simply put, you must have content on your website. One small page is not enough; you need landing pages for every aspect of your business, information about your business, and most importantly, a blog.
A blog section allows you to continuously update the content of your website, delivering unique and interesting articles relevant to your business that can a) sell your knowledge to existing customers, b) provide an entry-point for potential customers, and c) flesh out your website as much as possible.
They shouldn’t be that difficult, and even if you don’t like to write, just throw down some dot points; every little bit might help.
Have Customer Testimonials
Finally, as a small business, you obviously rely on your customers and their opinions of your business. Small businesses thrive on word of mouth promotion. As such, work to incorporate some of this into your new website.
Again, WordPress offers a range of plugins aimed at sharing Facebook or Google My Business reviews and can rotate through a range of positive comments. This shows new and existing customers just how other people have enjoyed your business.
Of course, you want to be encouraging these reviews as much as possible, but it shouldn’t be that difficult. Asking is a quick and sure-fire way to build review numbers and let people know more about your business.
Your Small Business Website is Crucial
More than anything else, if you don’t already, you need a business website. Engaging someone like Newpath web and their award-winning small business web development services is a simple and painless way to create the perfect website that doesn’t rely on a lot of fancy computer skills. Talk to us today!
