Is Your Website creating a good first impression?

Your website is the face of your business. Yet we’ve all visited business websites that don’t inspire much confidence in the product or the business owner. You probably didn’t spend much time there, and neither will others if your site looks that way. Take the time to create a professional online “first impression” for those who might be in need of your services. Just like with good customer service, your website will handle much of your marketing tasks for you, so putting in a little extra time in the beginning will save you hours of work each week.

Here are some tips for making your website work for your business:

• Test all pages and links before they go live – There is nothing worse than links that don’t work or give readers an error message. This includes checking your shopping cart to make sure it functions properly in your online store.
• Create user friendly pages – Use Call to Action buttons that tell people exactly what you need them to do. A site map is always useful. Don’t forget the social media buttons so anyone can click and share.
• Post new content regularly – Post new content at least weekly, if not every three or four days to keep readers interested.
• Provide images – People like to see what they are getting, as well as who they are getting it from. Make sure your image is present, perhaps in an “About Us” section. The newest way of digesting information is “infographics.” They convey a number of ideas in a visual as well as article format.
• Optimize, optimize, optimize – Include the keywords that are synonymous with your business all over your site. Search engines love that as long as you are not stuffing your articles with them.
• List contact information – As a service provider, people need to know how to get in touch with you via email, telephone and even snail mail.
• State the nature of your business – This seems like an obvious point but you’d be surprised how many people forget to tell their audience what they do and how they can help them. Integrate the reasons for using your services throughout your site including within the content you offer.