The way you lay out your space makes a big difference. Just ask someone who is selling his house or the owner of a small business. In the case of the latter, a storefront’s appearance and interior design are critical to a business’ success. From how traffic moves through the store to making sure customers can find the products they are looking for, business owners put hours of thought into coming up with the right design scheme.
So why should the thought process be any different when it comes to a business website? In today’s world, the virtual presentation of your business is just as important, if not more important, than your physical display.
If you haven’t thought much about your business website, here’s a checklist to follow when making your website appealing to current and potential customers:
* Pick a domain name that’s intuitive and familiar to your customer base. You can never go wrong with your business name followed by .com. If you can get them for the right price, it might be a good idea to buy multiple domain names that your customers are likely to enter when searching for your business and redirect them to your main site.
* Build a website that easily gets consumers and business partners where they want to go, in as few clicks as possible. Try to do so without overcrowding pages on your website.
* A clean website design is just as important as a clean storefront. A website free of distracting videos or gratuitous use of graphics will help ensure your customers can find what they are looking for without confusion. If you aren’t experienced in Web design, you may want to hire a professional, but the company you hire should also be willing to work with you on a design that fits your needs.
* Include full product descriptions on your website and let it do the selling for you. If it makes sense for your business, make it so customers can order products off your website. They should be able to easily get to the purchase page from the product description page. Make sure you are using a sales interface that makes your customers feel secure in their purchases.
* If you are redesigning your website, consider using tracking tools to determine what your customers are looking for on your site. That way, you can make your most popular information easily accessible to customers.
* Make it easy for customers to find you and to find out information about your company. Offer contact information in an easy-to-find place on your website. By offering as much information about your company and employees as possible on your “About Us” page, you can connect with customers just as you would at your store.
Just as you are able to make a great impression with an attractive storefront, customers will be equally impressed by an easy-to-navigate and informative website.
