Tips For Building a Great Website That Works

Today we are talking about building a great website that works. Over 80% of respondents to a recent poll by Inc. magazine said they made the decision to do business with a company BECAUSE of what they found on that company’s website. That’s why it is so important to have a quality website that helps promote your business and sell your products or services.

Here are ten quick tips to help even a novice build a quality site:

1. Know your audience. If you watch the latest hot sitcom or drama and then watch reruns of shows from the 60s, they’re probably going to see not only commercials for different products, but they’re going to be totally different styles. In the same way, a website whose audience is older should have things that cater to them; larger text, video or easy navigation. Knowing your audience is the first step to meeting their needs.
2. Keep it simple. Simple websites are not only easier to navigate, they also load faster so your customers don’t get frustrated waiting to find what they’re looking for.
   Ask for feedback. Always have a way for your users to send you feedback. This will help you make changes your customers want to keep them coming back, and even recommend you to their friends.
3. Don’t branch out too much. It’s best to focus your website on as few services as possible. If you offer several different products or types of products that are completely different from one another, then you need to have several websites to promote them so visitors aren’t bombarded with things they don’t want.
4. Be consistent. Make each page the same format, font, color, etc to keep visitors from getting confused at where to find what they’re looking for.
5. Be readable. Not only do you need a font that is readable and colors that don’t hurt the eyes, but it is also extremely beneficial to have correct spelling and grammar. Customers aren’t likely to stick around if they think you’re lazy or don’t know what you’re talking about.
6. Add RSS feed. I know it is 2017 and there are many ways to get to a website, but an old-fashioned RSS feed still works. Many people keep themselves updated by using RSS feeds instead of checking websites constantly. By adding an RSS feed, you can not only catch these users, you can also tailor feeds specifically for their interests.
7. Keep it current. Besides the danger of having out-of-date information, pages that are updated more often get visited more often and give you a better chance of keeping more customers. Make sure you keep fresh content on your blog. If someone gets to your blog only to find the last post is from 2015, that’s a turn-off.
8. Make things easy to find. Everyone wants things fast and adding a search box or an easy sitemap will help them find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
9. Have fun. Ultimately, your site needs to have something unique that reflects who you are and what you can provide while presenting a bit of your own personality.