How To Put Together a Business Website That Converts and Represents A Brand Effectively

Businesses a decade ago could make a debate about whether having a website would help or not. At this point in time not having a website for a business can make a business seem illegitimate and can stunt the growth of a business. This holds true for startups as well as established businesses as all companies need customers to thrive when it comes to profitability. Simply having a website is not enough in today’s business landscape as it has to have certain features to succeed. The following are a few of the major details to cover as well as decisions to make to allow a business website to thrive appropriately.

Take Time To Define Different Goals Of The Site

The website is going to be difficult to design if a main goal for the site is not established. Sit down with the staff to figure out what each department wants out of the website. The sales team is going to want leads so an appropriate contact form or client questionnaire has to be built. For businesses like that of a healthcare practice, setting appointments will be the main goal. Do not hide contact information on the bottom of a page or off of the homepage. Setting up an online appointment setting can also allow patients to set appointments without having to call in and potentially be put on hold. The marketing department is going to want to help the site rank for certain keywords so a blog section will be the main concern for them. This can help drive leads as well as help the business when it comes to the search engines. Web hosting that is reliable needs to be the goal of an e-commerce site as downtimes directly impact profits for the month.

Match Your Brand Voice Across The Site

The different needs of different departments as mentioned above can make it difficult to match brand voice across the entire site. If the company has a relaxed vibe then formal language is not going to sell the culture the company wants. This not only can impact sales but it can also have a huge effect on the type of talent the company has coming through its doors to interview. For this reason, a great copywriter needs to be hired to do the site and should be familiar with the voice the brand wants to convey on the site. Hiring a multitude of writers will be difficult to manage and will also be nearly impossible to keep the writing style and tone consistent.

Your Blog Should Be A Customer Resource

There are plenty of reasons to start a blog for businesses of all sizes. This can be a place where customers educate themselves on products and services that the company offers. Making this a resource for people in a certain niche can turn a company into a leader in an industry as well as help with search engine rankings. Do not for any reason turn the company blog into a glorified advertisement as people do not want to read content that comes off more like a commercial than an article. Create quality content consistently and the blog is sure to be a success over time.

Test Your Site With Multiple Demographics Before Launching

There are going to be business websites that are targeted at the technically savvy and this demographic alone. Testing this site with these type of users will be easy as they can give constructive feedback. The trouble comes when a website is serving demographics that are good with tech than those that might struggle a bit. In these cases it is important to serve those without tech knowledge as those with the skills can easily figure out a website out. Do testing with multiple demographics before launching so a bug on a new website does not alienate a potential customer after freezing or being too buggy to navigate.

Keep It Simple: Ask Customers What They Think

Take the time to ask customers what they think of the current company website and ask them to be honest. Ask them what attracted them to contact the company for more information and what they wish the site had. Most customers will take the time to give a thorough answer so take the in-depth answers more seriously than the vague ones that were obviously rushed. This can be a great opportunity to ask the customer for a testimonial but make sure the company is in great standing with them. Asking for a testimonial while missing a deadline probably will do much more harm than good so be careful.

Putting together the perfect company website has a different formula for every business. The above are tactics that are applicable for all companies to make their business’ website as successful as possible!