Every business is different, and your website’s focus will not be the same as a small business down the road from you. Since you’ll likely need to tweak things based on responses, it’s recommended that your Snellvile website be a work in progress for a couple of weeks. This can be a significant time investment, and that’s why we’re here. Let’s take a look at the different components of a successful website:
What Makes a Successful Website?
1 – Reliable Hosting
Your website isn’t just magically hanging out in a cloud somewhere – it’s files and components are hosted on a server (probably in the states somewhere). If your website is slow or unreliable, take a look at your hosting; if you’re ready to switch to something more stable, get in touch with us about our hosting and maintenance plans.
2 – Simple Design
While a little cliché, less is definitely more when it comes to website design. If there’s too much on your webpage, visitors can easily get lost and become confused. It’s critical to your success to keep things simple, but it’s also important to create a lasting impression in your prospective client’s mind. Choose a design that displays only what is necessary to get the job done.
3 – Powerful Copy
Many businesses underestimate the text content on their webpages. Something as simple as a typo or incorrect punctuation mark can make or break some sales! You want your website’s visitors to be impressed with your site, not scrambling to escape from bad copy (text). When looking for a website designer, make sure that the website copy they produce is effective and mistake-free.
4 – Persuasive Call-to-Actions
Sure, your website might look cool. However, if there’s no call-to-action, your visitor has no idea what they’re supposed to do on your webpage. What is your website’s purpose? Do you want visitors to sign up for your mailing list? Should potential clients reach out to you for a consultation? Make sure your website’s purpose is abundantly clear – use eye-catching colors and buttons that grab your visitor’s attention.
5 – Someone or Something to Help Manage Everything
Let’s say you choose to design and host your website yourself. Those two steps alone will take up a significant amount of your time, but that’s not where it ends. Someone also has to keep the website updated, moderate comments, write and post blog content, optimize the site for search engines, share on social media, create images, and run ad campaigns. This is a lot of work, and you probably don’t have time to do all of it. Luckily, dedicated website managers are available to help.
6 – Search Engine Optimization
Do you want to show up in a casual search for your product type? If so, you need to focus on search engine optimization (SEO). It may be tempting to try and do this yourself, but most SEO experts have been studying and following the changes to search engines over many years. Generally speaking, it’s best to leave SEO to the pros.
7 – An Efficient, Effective Online Store + Shopping Cart
It’s probably quite obvious that in order to sell online you’re going to need a virtual storefront and shopping cart setup. However, there are so many options to choose from, and every plugin will do one thing slightly different. Try to find demonstration of the plugin you’re looking at – does it work the way your customers will expect it to?
8 – A Populated, Regularly Updated Blog
Don’t underestimate the power of your website’s blog; there’s much more to a blog than simply explaining what your brand is up to. Your brand’s blog should contain “how to” articles, general knowledge pieces, sales-focused articles, and product spotlights! Anything related to your brand is fair game!
9 – Links to Your Social Media Profiles
While it may take an investment of time, social media is essentially free advertising. By placing share buttons on each of your blog’s posts and images, you’ll encourage visitors and readers to share your brand with others.
10 – Engaging Pictures and Other Media
A website without pictures is extremely dull, and your brand is anything but dull. However, it’s important to choose relevant pictures and videos that represent your brand well. Consider the type of engagement that you wish to receive on your website and create media that caters to this.
For example, if your brand will have a massive presence on Pinterest, create easily shareable “pins” with clear text. You may also wish to add a Pinterest sharing plugin to your website in this case.
11 – Expected Pages That Visitors Are Looking For
Does everyone know who you are? Since the most likely answer is “no,” your small business website will need an about us page. This, among others, is one of the pages that visitors will expect to see when they are visiting your website for the first time. Most websites can also benefit from a portfolio, but all websites should have a blog and a contact page. You can use other names for these pages, but the content should be similar.
12 – A Mobile-Ready Site or Separate Mobile Page
It’s no surprise that more than half of website views are now on mobile devices. For this reason alone, it would be silly to only optimize your website for desktop viewing, right? You have two options when it comes to satisfying your mobile visitors: either redirect to a separate mobile page (m.yoursite.com) or have mobile-responsive theme that automatically changes when the detected device has a smaller screen.
Let the Pros Handle Your Snellville Website Components
Now, that’s obviously a lot to worry about, especially if you’re a small business owner here in Atlanta or Snellville. Not sure if you can manage this all by yourself? Don’t worry – we can take the hassle out of this whole process for you. Hire a professional website designer in Gwinnett County, Georgia today!
