5 Tips for Designing an Effective Business Website
It doesn’t matter what you sell or how big your company is – every business needs to have an effective presence on the web. Your blog or website will often be the first place potential customers go when researching your product, so it’s vital that you present them with a clean and professional image. Craft an attractive, easy-to-use website and it will help develop your brand while luring more sales; botch the design and watch your hits (and revenue) dwindle.
Consider these points before designing a website for your business.
1. Always Keep It Simple
A cluttered, disorganized website will immediately drive your potential customers away, so keep the design simple while still reflecting what your business is all about. Don’t fill your pages with huge amounts of text – about 500 words or less is best. This should be an ample amount of copy to describe your product while enticing people to buy. Also, avoid using features that wouldn’t work with smartphones and other mobile devices; flash animation, for example, doesn’t function well with iPhones.
A cluttered, disorganized website will immediately drive your potential customers away, so keep the design simple while still reflecting what your business is all about. Don’t fill your pages with huge amounts of text – about 500 words or less is best. This should be an ample amount of copy to describe your product while enticing people to buy. Also, avoid using features that wouldn’t work with smartphones and other mobile devices; flash animation, for example, doesn’t function well with iPhones.
2. Focus on Typography
People should be able to quickly absorb and digest the information they read on your website. That means ensuring your text is pleasant for the eyes. Use font and background colors that are easy to scan – it’s tough to go wrong with black on white – and use only a few styles of fonts to create a sense of consistency throughout the site. Use headers to help organize content: if they’re too small, they will ruin the flow of the content and won’t attract the reader’s attention while headers that are too large will be a distraction.
People should be able to quickly absorb and digest the information they read on your website. That means ensuring your text is pleasant for the eyes. Use font and background colors that are easy to scan – it’s tough to go wrong with black on white – and use only a few styles of fonts to create a sense of consistency throughout the site. Use headers to help organize content: if they’re too small, they will ruin the flow of the content and won’t attract the reader’s attention while headers that are too large will be a distraction.
3. Content is King
Highlight your products using active language that communicates with your customers clearly and concisely. Always keep the content as fresh as possible. Posting new blogs or articles that are well-written and informative will keep people coming back for more. Also, the more content on the site, the more attractive it becomes for search engines. Be sure to feature informative and entertaining articles; not just advertising copy designed to sell your product.
Highlight your products using active language that communicates with your customers clearly and concisely. Always keep the content as fresh as possible. Posting new blogs or articles that are well-written and informative will keep people coming back for more. Also, the more content on the site, the more attractive it becomes for search engines. Be sure to feature informative and entertaining articles; not just advertising copy designed to sell your product.
4. Embrace SEO Techniques
Your website will do you little good if no one can find it. Blend keywords and phrases into your content that your potential customers are likely to use when searching for similar products online. Shoot for about a 3% keyword density – don’t go overboard. Try including the keyword with the name of the location that you are targeting. For example: “Los Angeles web design.” Inserting internal links into your copy will also give your site more prominence on search engines.
Your website will do you little good if no one can find it. Blend keywords and phrases into your content that your potential customers are likely to use when searching for similar products online. Shoot for about a 3% keyword density – don’t go overboard. Try including the keyword with the name of the location that you are targeting. For example: “Los Angeles web design.” Inserting internal links into your copy will also give your site more prominence on search engines.
5. Use Analytics
Analytics allow you to discover how many people are visiting your site, how long they’re staying and what they’re doing once they’re there. This is valuable information for tweaking your website and content. Analytics programs like Google Analytics will provide you with details on the kind of traffic your website is attracting. All this information may also help you market your business.
Analytics allow you to discover how many people are visiting your site, how long they’re staying and what they’re doing once they’re there. This is valuable information for tweaking your website and content. Analytics programs like Google Analytics will provide you with details on the kind of traffic your website is attracting. All this information may also help you market your business.
Tags: Google Analytics, Web search engine, Search engine optimization, IPhone, Los Angeles, Web design, Website, Customer