Every business needs a website to compete in the global marketplace. Most people today use the Internet to find the services and products they are looking for. A company website can attract customers from around the world in every time zone. Here are some useful features to include on your business website.
Navigation Bar
The links to each section of your website is called the navigation bar. A horizontal navigation bar at the top of each webpage of your site helps shoppers to quickly find what they need. Typical links or categories include a section about the company, featured products or services, samples or models, customer testimonials or reviews, and contact information. Within each link, you can add sublinks, which show up as a small vertical menu when you hover over the main link in the navigation bar. These links lead to related information in greater detail.
About the Business
Many prospective customers like to know how the company got started, how long it has been operating, and any past changes or future directions that are being planned. Key personnel, like the founder, CEO, or executive manager, can be introduced with a headshot to help familiarize the public with the lead individuals. In some industries, the about the business page can be the difference between gaining a customer and that customer looking elsewhere for the same product or service that you provide. This is based on the industry since some products and services require more trust with the customer than other industries. For example, if you are a non-profit organization, then you’ll need to showcase your legitimacy and take the user on a journey in your about page. However, if you are providing digital assets that easily previewed and the potential customers don’t care about the business or the reason the company was founded, then an about page will require less details.
Products and Services
Depending on the type of business it is, you can include photos, drawings, and descriptions with the names of the commodities you are offering. These should be organized efficiently to help customers find the ones they want. The imagery and text on this page is typically the most important compared to any other page because it is typically the page where the decision-making is done. For example, if you are a plumber, then you need to make sure that your services are clear and that you provide exactly what the potential customer is looking for. If they come to your services page and don’t see what they are looking for within a couple of seconds, then they will likely navigate to a different companies website.
Ordering information should also be available, including payment options and a delivery schedule. Depending on the price point of your products or services, you may choose to encourage the potential customer to contact you for a quote. Though this does work for some products and services, unless you have something that significantly sets you apart from other companies, then it’s likely that providing the price to them on the website will increase the number of inquiries that you get from the site. Special discounts or upcoming sales might also appear in this section as well as on the website’s homepage. Ideally, discounts and sales aren’t around year-round. That way, it doesn’t take away from the value of your products and services.
Customer Reviews
Product reviews, customer testimonials, and surveyor questionnaire results provide valuable information for curious shoppers who want to learn about your business. Representing their views on the website often helps to convince other shoppers to order your products and services. Testimonials help build the perception of legitimacy surrounding your products and services, which can be helpful when potential customers are considering reaching out to you or selecting your company for services. It also helps customers know what to expect and improves the likelihood of them enquiring of you for their services.
Contact Information
Include clear information about the best way for the public to get information, such as referencing a Q&A section or providing hours of operation as well as the company phone number. Some websites offer messaging features for customer contact. A contact form can be a great way to increase customer inquiries. Especially since there is little commitment from the potential customer when submitting their information through a contact form.
Traffic Funnel
A great website is only useful if you are getting traffic to the information that you’ve included on the site. For this reason, most businesses develop a traffic funnel using marketing. The strategies for getting traffic are typically related to search engine optimization, paid ads, social media, and blogging. It is a good idea to contact a marketing expert who specializes in your industry and understands your target audience. For example, a business that specializes in mass-producing plastic molds will have very different strategies to a business running a yoga studio. A yoga studio’s target audience is typically interested in specific things and the website, social media outreach, paid ads and any other traffic funnel should be catered to those things. Ensuring that you receive full-stack marketing for yoga studios is an important step to reaching the right audience and driving traffic to the website.
Make the most of your website by incorporating helpful features like these. You might check out similar websites in your industry for ideas on what to include.
