6 Things Your Website Needs

1. Website design.

Two words: Responsive Design.

The average business website will get 40% – 50% of traffic from users on mobile and tablet devices. This number can be as high as 80% for some industries.

If your website isn’t designed so that it displays well no matter what device your visitors are using, you’re missing out on some business.

Two more words: Updated Design.

Trends in design aren’t limited to fashion and home goods. They apply to websites as well. A trendy element that you added to your site in 2010 may not read as well to 2020 consumers.

Just like you wouldn’t trust an interior designer whose portfolio looks like it was last updated in 1995, your customers aren’t going to appreciate a website with outdated design.

2. User experience.

Consumers want a website experience that is easy and intuitive. If your site doesn’t provide that for them, they will look elsewhere.

There’s an easy way to check to see if your website is set up for the best user experience. If you can answer “yes” to the following four questions, you’re probably in good shape. If you can’t, you know where to start to create a better user experience.

Can your visitor tell what you do and how you can help them within 5 seconds of getting to your website?
Can your visitor quickly and easily find out how to contact you?
Can your visitor easily navigate your website to find what they need?
Is there a clear call to action on each page?

3. Search engine visibility.

If your website doesn’t show up on the first page of Google, does anyone care? Unlike the tree falling in the woods, people do.

When your business shows up on the first page, or ideally in the first few results, you have far more chance of someone who is searching for a business like yours, clicking through to your website.

Again, there is an easy way to check the strength of your search engine visibility: go to Google and search for the keywords associated with your business and see where you show up.

Be creative with your search terms. Add in your location and surrounding cities. Use abbreviations. All of these are opportunities for finding new clients and customers.

4. Conversion optimization.

Conversion optimization is the process of figuring out how many of your website visitors are taking the action you want them to at the end of their visit.

Here’s the straight-forward formula used to calculate the conversion rate of your website: Conversion Rate = [Action Number] / [Visitor Number] * 100.

If that number isn’t what you want or need it to be, there are a few, simple things that you can tweak to bring it up.

Give them an easy way to contact you with highly-visible contact information.
Tell them what you want them to do with a clear call-to-action.
Promote your lead generation pieces that allow you to collect contact information for direct follow-up.

5. Website speed.

Faster websites are better websites. Slow websites result in frustrated visitors and lower search rankings. Fast websites lead to happy visitors and higher search rankings.

And how fast is fast? Your site should load in no more than two (2) seconds.

Fast websites build trust with your visitors. They keep visitors engaged with your content. They help visitors understand what you do, better.

If you’re concerned about the speed at which your website loads, there are some things you can do to up your website’s load speed.

Find a different hosting company that can offer faster load speeds.
Limit the number of external requests your website makes.
Make your website smaller by reducing image size or removing larger elements.

6. Website security.

Your website visitors are looking for a website they can trust. One that will be there when they need it. One that is secure and reliable.

For that reason, you need to be considering website security as a top issue when thinking about how to run a successful website.

Just because you run a small- to medium-sized business, doesn’t mean you’re NOT a target for hackers or other cybercriminals. Much cybercrime these days isn’t about stealing data. It is focused on using your website to send out spam emails or embed malicious elements to make another website look better.

Final word.

Keeping your website updated, fresh, and secure is the best way to ensure that you are getting, and keeping, new and repeat business. These six elements are a great place to start to ensure you are doing just that.