You need a corporate website!
Which kind of website should a little business have?
What should a little business website look like?
What content should a little business website have?
The above are queries that many smaller businesses will be asking themselves with regards to developing their own websites. They know they need to be on the web, they know that there is certainly potential value to their business in becoming on the web, but their not quite sure how or what in addition to the need for a website....
This article is targeted at helping small businesses utilize the web effectively and also to obtain first wordpress website ready to go and doing work for them (or to redevelop a preexisting site).
We will use a number of steps that may help any small company plan its internet site and help create that business a highly effective website.
Step one 1: Define the objective of the website
Believe it or not, defining the objective of the web site is something that is often overlooked by many smaller businesses with regards to planning their internet site. Primarily it is because most smaller businesses think they know what they want, but because they haven't described it, they often miss the mark.
Simply put, only by defining a purpose of your website is it possible to ever judge whether your website has been successful or not, or what you ought to do to create it successful!
For example, you might want your website to provide any (or all) of the following:
* sell your products or services on-line (an on-line shop)
* promote your business (marketing)
* support your business (many clients expect you to have a website)
* provide info to potential and existing clients (brochure site)
* provide support to existing clients (technical information, queries and answers etc.)
After you have chosen what you want your website to provide, you can then start to plan it a lot more effectively with regards to what you ought to include on that internet site and how it will look and feel.
Step two 2: What do you think you should communicate to accomplish your objective (purpose)
Having defined the objective of the website, we have now need to structure some relevant content to "sell" the business enterprise.
From a business owners point of view, this could include:
* What we do, what we sell - web page(s) explaining the product or support that the business enterprise offers
* Our prices for what we do and what we sell
* Where we are - whether it's a bricks and mortar business, then we need to tell clients where they can find us
* Our unique feature (USP) - put simply what will the business enterprise do better than other people, or even more simply - why you should do business with us (this could be one element - "we will be the cheapest", or it could be a combination of factors - "you can expect the best support in your community at the very best prices"
A key thing to take into account here is that the web is driven by "content". Google and other search engines index pages according to what they "think" there about based on the pages content. Consequently, it is advisable to get appropriate content on your own website, explaining everything you do, where you are etc.
Many pundits utilize the phrase "content material is king", so whenever your planning your website, think ways to get suitable and relevant content material onto your website which will both be interesting to your visitors and search engine friendly. Many business for instance have "how to" guides on their websites, the on-line exact carbon copy of an agreeable authoritative shop keeper.
Step 3 3: Enter your customers shoes...
OK, so we've decided what we wish our website to accomplish and we have chosen some appropriate content that will "sell". Today for the harder part.
Some businesses will find this intuitive, others won't. We need to get into the clients shoes and discover what they want to understand, what they need to know about the business in order for them to interact with it and (based on the objectives of the web site) turn into a customer, be that produce an order on-line, grab the telephone, or pop into your workplace / shop.
Key things to consider here are:
* trust - how will a potential customer know that they can trust you?
* professionalism - how will a potential customer know you have expertise in your particular market or that your a professional business
* image - your website will be a shop home window to your business - could it be dressed to impress?
Typical ways of trying to overcome the over barriers include:
About us webpages - you will find many sites with "about us" webpages on them, it is a good way of communicating that your business has some substance to it / has been around business / has happy customers and staff. This can help to give your website visitor self-confidence in your business.
Testimonials - another excellent method of building trust and demonstrating professionalism. If visitors are unsure about your offering, one of the best ways of reassuring them is certainly to show them what others possess said and done.
Case studies - a great way of demonstrating expertise and professionalism, this builds on a testimonial with regards to trust building, but based on the way it's structured can considerably help in demonstrating your professionalism.
Terms and conditions - no need to help to make this high profile, but having T&C's, which include a refund plan for instance, can greatly help in the building self-confidence stakes.
Contact details - whether your business is situated at home or somewhere else, having full contact details - address and telephone number - is important. Nearly all visitors will most likely not contact you (based on the objectives of your business), but its reassuring for them is certainly they can.
Display counts - having a smartly designed website is critical. Whilst "content is certainly king", unless it's highly relevant and appropriate content, visitors won't read it unless it shown well. Remember, for most industries, presentation will matter more.
Step 4 4 - review and simplify
After following a above steps, you almost certainly have a huge list of things you want on your own website. However, hardly any people would want to read a huge list of things on a internet site (unless they are actually really interested).
Therefore, you should review and simplify.
For your house page, you wish to focus on a very important factor alone - your proposition to the client. By all means have other but keep the focus simple, things and concise. Engage your visitors in increments, so rather than making a do or die pitch because of their business in two paragraphs, make an effort to encourage them to click onto another web page for more detail. In this manner after that you can focus the web page the customer clicks to that specific service, item or feature without mind-boggling them.
You navigation structure - the way your pages connect to each other must be simple too. There exists a reason why the majority of website navigation pubs are at the top of the page within the header - that's because people expect them to end up being there and it's really now intuitive.
Your presentation - don't make an effort to crowd way too many things jointly. Keep it simple clean and concise. Your customers will thank you for it. Too many situations you see web-pages filled with everything beneath the sun, from animated graphics to news wires.
Step 5 - peer review
Your a specialist at your business, unless that business is communications or web site design, don't expect to be an expert in that too. Require peoples assistance, your peers, your co-workers, your family. You might not trust them, but they can provide a different and essential viewpoint.
Above all, check out what your competitors are carrying out, whether there local or not. See which types you would do business with them (from simply looking at their websites) and then ask yourself why!
Concluding remarks
Ideally this article has given you some food for thought if nothing else. It isn't designed to be considered a how to direct, or a technical guide, but more a guide on structuring and focusing your articles and overcoming a few of the barriers you as a business will face in the on-line world.
Further, continue to keep a feet (or two) the truth is, if your business isn't viable in real life, don't necessarily expect it to be viable in the on-range world. Furthermore, having a internet site doesn't guarantee a large number of visitors, you'll be shocked at how few visitors the common business website gets!
And (nearly finished), when you have published your website (whether you have done it yourself (poor) or used an agency (great), remember to keep track of how it's doing. Web statistics are critical here. See what works, what doesn't and review regularly.
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