This is Part 2 in our three-part series about improving your business website. If you missed our first post, be sure to check out our tips for making sure your website is covering all the important basics. Today, we’ll offer some pointers on ensuring that your site has “business utility” — in other words, making sure customers can get what they need without too much effort.
Attract and keep more happy customers with reputation management software. Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free!
The Internet is part of the modern storefront for small businesses. The primary purpose of a small business website is to help customers understand your company and make it easier for them to purchase your products and services. Here are a few important questions to ask as you assess how well your website helps customers get what they need.
Does my website help customers understand what my business does?
There are 28 million small businesses in the U.S., and potential customers won’t work very hard to understand if yours is the one they want to patronize. Your website should use a simple design structure that follows best practices for user navigation so consumers don’t get frustrated and leave. To help customers understand who you are and what you sell, create separate pages that describe your company (e.g. “About Us”) and your products or services. You might also consider an FAQ page to help customers answer basic questions.
Does it help customers easily contact my business?
It might seem basic, but many websites unintentionally make it too hard for customers to contact them or find their actual business location. That’s a surefire way to turn off patrons who just want to give you their money! Your website should include:
- Mailing address
- Physical address with directions and hours of operation
- Phone number
- Email address
- Contact form (so you can collect email addresses)
Make sure your contact information is located prominently on your website. The most common placement is in the top-right corner of the homepage. The Website Highlights feature in Womply’s dashboard will let you know if your contact information is easily accessible and, if not, tell you how to fix it.
Go deeper: Why every small business needs to have a website
Does it encourage them to post online reviews about my business?
Online reviews are the new word of mouth, and every business has to effectively manage them to attract more customers. Your business can increase revenue just by getting more reviews because it helps customers find your business and take a chance on your products and services.
Be sure to include links to your social media and online reputation pages prominently on your website. As for placement, the majority of websites include social media icons in the footer. Website Highlights will show you if you have the appropriate links and offer tips if you don’t. In addition, you can use Womply’s software to proactively encourage happy customers to post positive feedback about your business on popular sites.
With Womply, you can assess your website’s business utility, get more positive reviews, and more. Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free! Check back later for Part 3 (SEO) in our series about business website performance.