It is very unusual to come across a business in this day and age that does not have a website. Whenever someone is looking to buy an item or to employ the services of someone, the world wide web is usually the starting point. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure your website is fit for purpose, helping your business to be a success.
User Friendly
If a potential customer happens upon your website and it does not quite function as intended, they may be put off and therefore you may have a high bounce rate. That is to say that your visitors will not stay on the website or even page for a sustained period of time, lowering your conversion rate. It is not only the technological side of the website which matters. Consider the impact that a bright website with loads of contrasting colours could have on someone with visual impairments or dyslexia. Eye strain can be terribly and off-putting for many. Choose your colour scheme wisely and limit the number of banners and graphics that move or flash. Having too much information on your website can be as detrimental as having too little. Be sure to think about what details customers, potential or existing, will require. Looking at competitors’ websites can be helpful when it comes to streamlining everything.
Up-To-Date Information
How many times have you visited a website which states ‘last updated September 2017’ and you have considered the usefulness of the information contained there? It certainly is something that you or your website manager (if you are lucky enough to have one, whether in house or outsourced) needs to keep a handle on. Ensuring that all information is current and relevant is vital as otherwise you could severely disappoint. Imagine looking out for the perfect second hand car, stumbling upon the one for you and it no longer being available as it had been sold the previous week. This experience can be enough to stop someone from even thinking about seeking to buy from you in the future if something else suitable cropped up.
SEO
SEO stands for ‘search engine optimisation’ and is the practice of ensuring that the number of people who visit your website as well as them being quality viewers. It can be a really tricky thing to get your head around, so many people choose to employ the SEO services of an external business. This will help your business to be ranked much higher and seen more easily by people searching for specific things linked to the service or goods you provide. In other words, the aim (though not solely) is to get you onto the first page of search results on search engines such as Google. If you are unable to finance the outsourcing of this, it is important to ensure that there is absolutely no plagiarism on your website. Write your content from scratch. Even if you have a secondary website, do not copy and paste. Make everything unique otherwise it will lower your domain authority (a way of measuring how good your website is).
