15 April, 2020| Digital Marketing|9 minutes
What Every Small Business Website Needs to Succeed Online
You’re a small business owner wondering, “What does my website need to be successful?” It’s a question that keeps many entrepreneurs up at night.
To have a successful small business website, you need a clear and intuitive design, high-quality content, strong SEO practices, mobile responsiveness, fast load times, and reliable security measures.
This article will dive deep into these crucial elements of a successful small business website. We’ll provide actionable steps, tips, and examples to help you optimise your online presence. Whether you’re just starting or looking to revamp your existing website, this guide covers you.
Table of Contents
The Key Components of a Successful Small Business Website
Clear and Engaging Website Design
Your website’s design is the first impression potential customers will have of your business. It must be visually appealing, user-friendly, and aligned with your brand’s identity. A clutter-free layout, easy navigation, and responsive design are essential. Utilise high-quality images and graphics that resonate with your target audience.
Compelling and Relevant Content
Content is king, even for small business websites. High-quality, engaging content informs visitors about your products or services and helps with search engine optimisation (SEO). Incorporate relevant keywords throughout your content to improve your website’s visibility on search engines like Google.
SEO Keywords, Meta Descriptions, and Alt Text
Integrate SEO keywords into your website’s content, meta descriptions, and image alt text. This helps search engines understand what your website is about and improves its chances of ranking higher in search results.
Contact Information and Clear Calls-to-Action
Make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you. Your contact information, including your physical address, phone number, and email, should prominently be on your website. Additionally, strategically place clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide visitors towards desired actions, such as purchasing, subscribing to your newsletter, or requesting more information.
Fast Loading Speed and Mobile Compatibility
In today’s fast-paced world, people expect websites to load quickly. A slow website can lead to high bounce rates and missed opportunities. Ensure your website is optimised for mobile devices; a responsive design guarantees that your site looks and functions well on smartphones and tablets.
Social Media Integration
Connect your website to your social media profiles to increase your online reach. This integration allows visitors to easily share your content and products on their social platforms, driving more traffic to your site. It also helps build a sense of community and trust with your audience.
Small Business Websites Should Be UX-Focused
Did you know for every $1 you invest in user experience web design, you’ll make between $2 to $100 in return? And that number doesn’t include the lead return, product sales or service agreements you generate due to user-orientated navigation, website foundation and content flow! When UX first arrived on the scene, businesses of all sizes weren’t sure what to make of it – it sounded like another money-draining fad… after all, how hard is it to make a website that makes sense to people?
It can be difficult, depending on the size, service and presentation of important information. Even small business websites suffer from poorly ordered web pages, too many menus, impacted useability and links that lead in circles. There’s more to the user experience than landing on a page and filling in a contact form, so getting the right people on board to take a hard look at your existing website now will only increase your leads, clients or customers in the future.
Get the results you deserve. Read more about user-friendly websites while there’s still time to make a move!
As a leading digital marketing agency, we’re ready to develop the strategies you need to scale your business.
We’ll give you no-nonsense marketing and SEO strategies that will bring you high-quality leads.
Memorable Small Business Websites Are Automated
If you’ve been wondering how to automate your business processes and increase employee productivity, look no further than our favourite three tried, tested and 100% handy small business automation solutions. They will make your hours significantly easier in almost no time at all!
Active Campaign
Did you know 51% of companies are already using email marketing automation?
Take advantage of the changing landscape and create a clear-cut email marketing campaign without pouring team hours into creation, dispersal and management. Email marketing is still essential, but automation tools like Active Campaign make it easier to redistribute time, ensuring your team can focus on doing great work.
You’ll Love: The segmentation tools are no one-size-fits-all when talking the talk. Make sure your messaging resonates from the first day.
You Need: The dynamic content tools – changing it up has never been more straightforward! Coupled with the A/B testing platform, you’ll find out what works fast!
Calendly
Stay on top of your contacts with this free scheduling app. Calendly makes connecting with potential clients and customers simple with an easy-to-use call booking system, Zoom integrations (in addition to GoTo, Salesforce and more), and a robust calendar pairing integration, working across the big boys like Google Calendars, Office 365 and iCloud, ensuring you never miss a meeting, no matter what device you’re on!
You’ll Love: The price-point. It’s free.
You Need: The control panel – buffer times between meetings have saved us more than once!
Zapier
Once you start using Zapier, you’ll never go back! A system designed to make integration brainless for business owners, the system automatically moved essential information between web applications thanks to predefined triggers. Once you set it up and press play, you can focus on what matters instead of managing all of the background guff. Chillybin uses Zapier to create workflows for SaaS apps like Slack, Dropbox, Google Docs and a few more, but the applications are almost endless (2000 supported at last count).
You’ll Love: The price-point. It’s free.
You Need: The seamless automation of tasks across various apps saves you time, enhances productivity, and reduces errors.
Consistently Valuable Content
One effective way to showcase your expertise and engage your audience is through a blog. Regularly publishing relevant and informative blog posts keeps your audience engaged and boosts your website’s SEO. Each blog post is an opportunity to address common questions, provide solutions, and establish yourself as an industry authority.
The most effective content marketing tactics rely on relationships;
The relationship between your business and your service/product
Does your service/product reflect your value proposition and market difference on first impressions?
The relationship between your service/product and the visitor/audience member
Will it resolve their pain points or dramatically contribute to their lives somehow? Do they like it? Is there anything better targeted on the market?
The relationship between your business, the visitor and their expectations
Do they like you? What are you doing to ensure you’re their go-to provider? Do your values resonate with their expectations, needs and wants? Are you going the extra mile?
After you figure out the answer to these questions, combined with up-to-date keyword research, you can create a list of blog topics, white papers and social media posts.
Pro-Tip: Don’t write for the masses. You can’t please everyone. Instead, identify your most common customers, their attributes, needs and concerns, addressing each piece of content to address one or more elements of their profiled personality. We recommend creating between 2-5 of these personas and developing your content calendar to directly address every single one at least once or twice a month.
E-Commerce Capabilities and Online Store
Consider integrating an e-commerce platform into your website if you’re selling products. An online store provides customers a convenient way to browse, select, and purchase your offerings. Ensure the shopping experience is seamless, with easy navigation, secure payment options, and detailed product information.
Building Trust with Customer Reviews
Customer reviews and testimonials are powerful tools for building trust. Displaying positive feedback from satisfied customers on your website can influence potential buyers and reassure them about the quality of your products or services. Encourage customers to leave reviews and prominently showcase them on your site.
Final Thoughts
Congratulations! You now have a solid understanding of the key components contributing to a successful small business website. By implementing a clean and simple website design, compelling content, strategic calls-to-action, fast loading speeds, social media integration, a blog, e-commerce capabilities, and customer reviews, you’re on the path to digital success.
Remember, your website is a dynamic tool that requires regular updates and optimisation. Stay attuned to your audience’s needs, industry trends, and technological advancements to enhance your online presence continually.
Still uncertain about what comes next? Reach out today, and our team will take you through your options according to your unique business needs.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
