It's interesting to see so many websites that haven't done it
right! Even though websites are not a new idea, some companies still get
it wrong. Surprisingly, even companies who are good at what they do and
provide excellent customer service don't ensure the success of their
website. Here are some ways to make sure that your website is
successful:
1. CONTENT IS KING
On the internet, content is king. Most customers visit websites for their content. Most surveys I have studied suggest that people are online to find information. If your website can provide new information that helps your users consistently, your website will have more visitors.
Some basic things your website should have: who you are, what you do, why you are different from your competitors. Be customer oriented! Tell the users how you can help them, identify with their problems, and offer solutions to those problems.
2. VISUALLY APPEALING
Your website has to look good. It does not have to be the best website ever made, but it does need to look good. If you want your business to be taken seriously, your website needs to communicate that. If your website is not professional, people will assume that you are a small company that is not here to stay.
3. CREATIVITY WITH FUNCTIONALITY
It's great to be creative! However, it is important to keep in mind the conventional methods. Functionality is just as important as form.
4. NAVIGATION
The KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle applies here. You may offer a lot of products or services, to a variety of customers. It is crucial to group your products and/or services into a few groups. If a user has to spend over 10-20 seconds starring at your navigation aimlessly, you need to change it and make it simpler.
5. VIEWABLE DOCUMENTS
Customers are visiting your website so that they can get information. If they have to download a PDF to view the information, it adds burden to them. It is always a good idea to have a download option to documents, but they first need to be clearly displayed in the browser. It's even better if you can convert the document into HTML so that a user can search it using key words.
6. ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE
It might seem intuitive, but a lot of websites are not viewable on major browsers or mobile devices. This is an issue especially for websites that have a large amount of flash content. Flash still does not work on several cell phones so if your website is largely flash based, it might not look as expected on a cell phone device. If you have already invested in a large flash website, it might be wise to build a mobile website that is optimized to work on most platforms.
7. SEO
Search Engine Optimization is somewhat of a complicated subject. In a perfect world, you could spend thousands of dollars each month on SEO. Just because your business can't afford to spend a large sum of SEO, you should still consider doing the basics - XML submission and Metatags. XML submission is submitting a sitemap to search engines. This makes it easier for search engines to read your website and index it. Metatags is a powerful tool to ensure your website is present on search engine results page. These are HTML tags that are used to describe page titles, and keywords that are visible to search engines.
8. NOT SO UP-TO-DATE
I was browsing a restaurant's website and came across a coupon that expired last year. It made me wonder how much they really care about their presence on the web. Having outdated information on the web is a disservice to your customers.
If customers take the time to visit your website, it is important to have updated information.
9. SOCIAL MEDIA
Integrate social media with your website. Users should be able to like your website on Facebook, follow you on Twitter or Google Plus, and share your articles via any social networking site with a single click. The easier you make it for users to share information, the likely they are to do so.
10. METRICS
Last but not least, setup some metrics to measure your success. I would highly recommend utilizing Google Analytics so you can keep a track of the number of unique visitors, and other useful information such as what pages users spend most time on, where users are coming from (Google search, ads, Facebook) and what part of the world they are from. This information can be extremely useful - similar to knowing who comes to a brick and mortar store, what products they look at, and where they heard about you.
A website represents your business online. A lot of times, your website is the first impression that users have about who you are and what you do. Just like being very detail oriented when building an office building, it is important to research and learn about how to make your website a marketing tool and get a positive return on investment (ROI).
1. CONTENT IS KING
On the internet, content is king. Most customers visit websites for their content. Most surveys I have studied suggest that people are online to find information. If your website can provide new information that helps your users consistently, your website will have more visitors.
Some basic things your website should have: who you are, what you do, why you are different from your competitors. Be customer oriented! Tell the users how you can help them, identify with their problems, and offer solutions to those problems.
2. VISUALLY APPEALING
Your website has to look good. It does not have to be the best website ever made, but it does need to look good. If you want your business to be taken seriously, your website needs to communicate that. If your website is not professional, people will assume that you are a small company that is not here to stay.
3. CREATIVITY WITH FUNCTIONALITY
It's great to be creative! However, it is important to keep in mind the conventional methods. Functionality is just as important as form.
4. NAVIGATION
The KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle applies here. You may offer a lot of products or services, to a variety of customers. It is crucial to group your products and/or services into a few groups. If a user has to spend over 10-20 seconds starring at your navigation aimlessly, you need to change it and make it simpler.
5. VIEWABLE DOCUMENTS
Customers are visiting your website so that they can get information. If they have to download a PDF to view the information, it adds burden to them. It is always a good idea to have a download option to documents, but they first need to be clearly displayed in the browser. It's even better if you can convert the document into HTML so that a user can search it using key words.
6. ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE
It might seem intuitive, but a lot of websites are not viewable on major browsers or mobile devices. This is an issue especially for websites that have a large amount of flash content. Flash still does not work on several cell phones so if your website is largely flash based, it might not look as expected on a cell phone device. If you have already invested in a large flash website, it might be wise to build a mobile website that is optimized to work on most platforms.
7. SEO
Search Engine Optimization is somewhat of a complicated subject. In a perfect world, you could spend thousands of dollars each month on SEO. Just because your business can't afford to spend a large sum of SEO, you should still consider doing the basics - XML submission and Metatags. XML submission is submitting a sitemap to search engines. This makes it easier for search engines to read your website and index it. Metatags is a powerful tool to ensure your website is present on search engine results page. These are HTML tags that are used to describe page titles, and keywords that are visible to search engines.
8. NOT SO UP-TO-DATE
I was browsing a restaurant's website and came across a coupon that expired last year. It made me wonder how much they really care about their presence on the web. Having outdated information on the web is a disservice to your customers.
If customers take the time to visit your website, it is important to have updated information.
9. SOCIAL MEDIA
Integrate social media with your website. Users should be able to like your website on Facebook, follow you on Twitter or Google Plus, and share your articles via any social networking site with a single click. The easier you make it for users to share information, the likely they are to do so.
10. METRICS
Last but not least, setup some metrics to measure your success. I would highly recommend utilizing Google Analytics so you can keep a track of the number of unique visitors, and other useful information such as what pages users spend most time on, where users are coming from (Google search, ads, Facebook) and what part of the world they are from. This information can be extremely useful - similar to knowing who comes to a brick and mortar store, what products they look at, and where they heard about you.
A website represents your business online. A lot of times, your website is the first impression that users have about who you are and what you do. Just like being very detail oriented when building an office building, it is important to research and learn about how to make your website a marketing tool and get a positive return on investment (ROI).
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