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In our last post, we introduced a few errors you want to evade when designing your website. Here are four more that will help you side-step common mistakes and build a smarter (and, dare we say, sexier?) website:
4. Not solving a visitor’s problems.
Remember that you’re selling yourself here. And remember that sales is all about solving a problem for someone else. Remember when designing your website that you should be coming from the consumer’s point of view. They don’t want to know what you do so much as they want to know what you can do for them. And they will respect a business that respects their time and attention span. (Bonus tip: Navigation is as important as aesthetics; make your website user-friendly by surveying some beta testers on a few versions of the site before it’s officially launched and marketed.)
5. Not knowing how to properly employ the use of SEO (search engine optimization).
This one’s an important one. Companies can lose a substantial amount of revenue simply because they don’t know how to employ sound SEO techniques on their site. If you want Google to prioritize your listing (or show it at all), you need to focus your message and remember to use the keywords your consumers would use when doing a Google search.
6. Not having an optimized Product and Services Page design.
Again, less is more here. Visitors don’t like to be bombarded with paragraphs of information on the one page. Instead, think of creating subpages broken down by category. Or you can program drop-down descriptions for each product and service, so that clicking on the headlines takes a visitor right where they want to go without too much searching and scrolling. Or add a FAQ page that links directly from your Products and Services page. Not only will this create a satisfying digital experience for your consumer, but an FAQ page will do amazing things for your SEO results! (Bonus tip: Questions are often used as search terms, so phrasing your FAQ page as very common questions will drive traffic to your website.)
7. Not having a good copywriter on board.
Establishing trust is hard when your potential client is staring at a monitor instead of speaking directly to you, and so you must work extra hard to make sure that your website’s “voice” is the right one for your business. Make sure the language fits the message you want your brand to convey, and also the potential consumers you want to attract. Answer their questions, and solve their problems, target their needs. Don’t get too technical if you don’t need to, and keep in mind that you want to build a rapport with your potential clients. Professional writers are probably going to help you more than the most knowledgeable bore in your whole industry; this is not the place to skimp with your budget.