The Learning Center

I look at local business websites regularly. I am constantly amazed at how much information they lack. Simple things like phone numbers, addresses, and elements that help brand the business. The website is meant to help a business attract new customers. But a poorly designed website will do the opposite and instead drive your website visitors away.

If you’re a small business owner and you want your website to do the job it’s meant to do then you need to look at these 7 elements.

1. Who You are – If you have a business logo and it’s not already a part of your website it needs to be. Your logo should be in a nice prominent place like the header. When you’re trying to brand a business you put it everywhere. On your vehicles, on your business cards, and definitely on your website. Don’t be shy about using your logo it’s meant to help you build name recognition.

2. What You Do – This is also extremely important. You need to make sure you say what you do. Sometimes your logo will fail to do that. So make sure that on your homepage you’re very clear about what you do or what you offer. You would be amazed at how many websites lack this information.

3. Easy Navigation – Keep it clean and keep it simple. The best navigation nowadays appears either above your header or directly below it. Sidebar navigation still works but it’s not always the best route to go. Use drop downs if you have a lot of pages that can be navigated to. For example, if you’re a plumber and you’ve got multiple services you might want to have a services page and then as drop downs underneath that page you would list each of the services that you provide assuming of course that you have specific pages that talk about each service. Remember the easier your website is to navigate the longer your visitor will stay.

4. Phone Number – Make sure your phone number is prominently displayed and use local area codes. This is especially important for service businesses. Because for example the people that need a plumber are going to call to make appointment. If they can’t easily find a phone number how are they going to call? Keep phone numbers either in the header or someplace prominent directly below. Make the font size larger than the rest of the text on the page. Bold phone numbers and change their colors. The goal is to make sure they stand out.

5. Location – If you have a business that relies on walk-in traffic then make sure your address is prominent. If possible display your location on Google maps on your website that way visitors can easily get directions. If you have a business that goes to the customer then it’s not as important but you should still consider displaying your address.

6. Call to Action – Make sure your website includes a call to action. Something as simple as “call us now” needs to be included. If you really want your website visitors to take action you need to ask them to do exactly that. You’ll find that it works a lot better than most people think.

7. Above the Fold – keep your most important information above the fold. If you don’t know what above the fold means it’s very simple. The space on a website that you see without scrolling down is considered above the fold. It’s the information that people will always see when they visit your website. Which means it’s the most important space on the page. So keep your most important information in that area.

The point of your website is not just to attract new visitors, it needs to help you increase sales. The seven elements I’ve just gone over are extremely important in helping your website to do its job. If you’ve already addressed each of these issues in your website great, but if you haven’t you need to do so.

If you need help adjusting your website or are interested in a total website redesign please call our office at 615-890-3600 or email us. Consultations are always free and our goal is simple, to make sure your website can help bring you new business.