By: Basil Solomon and Katrina Tecxidor
Websites have been the foundations of business of all kinds since their rise in the 90’s internet craze. More than two decades later, they have grown in their design and network capabilities, and they contribute greatly to a business’s success. Now you can consider a great functioning website ESSENTIAL for success, as well as having search engine optimization (SEO).
But how do you make a website that will lead to sales and publicity for your company? This article explores important things to consider when you are creating a professional website for your business.
A User-Friendly Layout and Design
CREATE A WELL THOUGHT OUT USER-FRIENDLY LAYOUT:
What is the first thing a visitor sees on your homepage? Is it a big banner of your company? An inspirational quote that precedes and introduces your homepage? Is the color scheme too extravagant? Is there NO color scheme? What your audience first sees when they visit your website might be engraved in their memories forever, so it’s important to make a great first impression. Think about it like this, if you went to your local mom and pop thrift shop and the outside of the store was dirty, lacked style, and was generally not pleasant to look at you may consider not going inside. A website is much the same. If a website does not look attractive or does not have a user-friendly layout and design you could be missing out on thousands of dollars of revenue.
Having a video or something at the top of your site that encourages people to stay on your site longer can make all the difference.
CREATE STREAMLINED WEBSITE CONTENT:
More and more websites include animations, elaborate intros to videos, videos about their products, you get the idea.
But what is your company really about? There wouldn’t be a reason to have a very flashy action packed explosive intro for a website for medical solutions, right?!
The design should cater to your website’s content, which is what you’re selling, promoting, or innovating. The content is where you deliver this information in a clear and concise way. Gone are the days where people want to read tons of text on a website. We suggest keeping your website to 3 to 5 tabs and in your services section write no more than a few sentences about each service you offer. Some businesses may require a disclaimer on their site or career section for example. It is up to you to use your own discretion on what is best for your business. Remember, sometimes less is more when it comes to text on a site.
Other things to consider, are you putting the company’s biggest offer/sale first? Or would you prefer a grandiose introduction to your company image? At the end of the day, it’s up to you. That’s what makes marketing so exciting. If you are struggling with coming up with a layout for your site, discuss your ideas on social media or on our CosMarketing Blog!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Keywords
The unsung hero. The search engine’s mating call. SEO helps your website reach the Google search engine results the next time someone searches for a service that you happen to provide.
Website builders may offer their own SEO plan, which could be useful if you’re a novice at website building. However, some of them are so standardized that it might get your business lost in a plethora of search results that sound too similar unless people were searching for you specifically. It is best to be not too broad or too specific with your keywords. Remember also variety is key. One or two keywords on your site means it is not fully optimized. Add in as many relevant keywords as possible. Give yourself more ways to be found on Google!
A good plan is to know how to promote yourself locally and spreading out to nearby regions. You might get lucky every once in a while with a contract or a sale you made in a further region than you’d expect, but most of your business would most likely find itself useful in the area around you. Tailor your SEO also to the region you are in. Many people will not go outside of a 20 to 30 mile radius from their home or work when making purchases. Online stores, of course, have more flexibility in locations, provided they can easily ship throughout the USA or other countries.
Remember keywords are essential to a good SEO setup for your website, and without SEO your website is basically an egg without the yolk. A website without SEO is simply an unfinished product that the search engines will think is not useful. This will bury you on Google and Yahoo and will make it very hard for people to find your company. If your business involves selling comic books for example, then use words in your SEO like “geek”, “DC”, “Marvel”, “cosplay”, etc. If you are unsure on what to add, it is always beneficial to seek the advice of a professional.
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