Are you struggling to get a foothold in a new location, or you're starting your small business from scratch? You need to start by designing a high-quality website that enraptures your target audience.
Your small business website acts as the hub for all your business and gives potential buyers the first impression of your company. With the right design, you can also establish rapport, trust, and convince people to convert. On the other hand, badly designed websites can negatively affect your overall reputation.
With this in mind, read on to learn our top seven most important web design tips for small businesses!
1. Mobile-Friendly
Did you know that according to the Pew Research Center, 97 percent of Americans own a smartphone of some kind? This means that more and more people are accessing the internet through their smartphones.
Even Google changed their algorithm because of this use–they now prioritize the mobile version of websites over the desktop versions. In order to make sure viewers have a good experience using your website, you need to ensure that it's responsive or mobile-friendly.
Responsive websites are able to look the same no matter what size screen they're being viewed on. Make sure that your Wix web design says that it is mobile-friendly.
2. Clean and Uncluttered
When it comes to design a website, minimalistic sites are better than ones that are too cluttered. You can tell that a website is cluttered if you experience any number of these issues:
You don't know what part of the website to look at first
You keep getting distracted by graphical elements
The amount of copy feels overwhelming
The screen looks too crowded
You don't know how to find the web pages you need
And more
Uncluttered designs often have ample negative space that allows each piece of content to breathe. As you scroll, you can focus on one thing at a time without disparate elements competing with each other.
This also means that you have a consistent color palette as well as typography in order to create a memorable and polished experience for your site visitors.
3. SEO
SEO, short for search engine optimization, helps your site rise to the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) depending on the keywords used on the web page. SEO is a great long-term strategy for all websites because, over time, an SEO strategy will help increase organic traffic at no additional cost.
SEO techniques evolve over time depending on the Google algorithm, but here are a few tried-and-true methods:
High-quality content writing for blogs that use researched keywords
Placing keywords contextually in the article's body and headlines
Adding relevant alt text to all images
Ensuring you're using an SEO-friendly platform
And more
If you're designing a website that's optimized for search engines for the first time, focus on content that provides value and entertainment to your readers above all else.
4. Contact Details
Adding your contact details to the header and footer of your website is important, especially if you have a service-based business and need people to make appointments. A contact form is also necessary, but details in the footer of your website are great for viewers who are ready to make a call or schedule an appointment on the web page that they're currently on.
This also gives your business more legitimacy and builds trust if people are interacting with your website for the first time. This shows that they have a clear line of communication if they have any issues or questions with your products or services.
5. Display Testimonials
Converting visitors into paying customers can be easier if you display social proof. After someone becomes a customer, make sure you ask them to leave a review on your Google My Business page or through email. You can later add these reviews directly to your website in order to help convince people to continue along your sales funnel.
Consider placing these testimonials in areas where you have a call-to-action, such as beneath contact forms or on web pages that describe your services and products. This is because, at those moments, people are more primed to make a decision about whether they want to become a customer.
6. Fast Loading
Did you know that the average desktop web page loading time is 4.3 seconds? If you're able to get your loading time down to less than 2.3 seconds, this would put you in the best 10 percent of websites. Web users are used to fast loading times, and anything more than 7.9 seconds can cause them to lose patience and choose another website.
This is why you need to focus on making your website as fast and easy to use as possible. This starts by formatting your images correctly so that they're not taking too long to load.
This is also why hiring a Wix designer is important, as they'll focus on making your website as fast to load as possible.
7. Capture Leads
One of the issues that growing small businesses face is the fact that although people like your business, they may not be willing to make a purchase at the time of viewing your website. For this reason, it's important to incorporate a mailing list into your marketing efforts so that you can constantly engage with potential buyers.
Once you create a mailing list, make sure you include forms that allow visitors to sign up for it directly on your website. You'll find that providing an incentive is a great way to convince people to sign up, such as free templates, graphics, or scripts.
Follow These Web Design Tips for Success
It's important that small business owners keep in mind that a website acts as the storefront of your business in the digital world. Viewers will make their first impressions of your business and its offerings based on the design of your website, regardless of your experience or number of previous customers.
For this reason, you need to make smart, thoughtful design decisions that are based on enhancing the user experience and differentiating your brand from competitors. Web designers do this through clean web designers that are fast loading, optimized for search engines, and more.
Ready to get your website project started with a web development company that can bring your vision to life? Contact us today to get started!
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