If you’re a small business owner, you understand the importance (and challenge) of gaining new customers. Because most of a consumer’s decision-making happens online, one of the most valuable tools at your disposal for reaching new customers is your website.
Your company’s website gives potential customers the first impression of your business. When rebranding or giving your website a makeover, don’t make the mistake of putting most of your focus on the website’s appearance. Having a crisp, beautiful website is very important—but does your website actually have all the features it needs to bring in new customers? No matter if a prospective customer’s journey starts with your homepage or a landing page, they should have everything they need to browse your products or services and contact you to learn more.
As digital marketing experts, we create websites that turn casual “window-shoppers” into lifetime customers. Here is our list of elements your website must have to earn new customers:
Simple, Intuitive Menu Bar
Your website must be easy to navigate. If a potential customer arrives at your website but cannot find the information they need—and quickly—they likely will not pick up the phone or make a purchase. Every website has a navigation (or menu) bar at the top of every page, with links to the website’s main and subpages. Your menu bar should be uncluttered and intuitive. Try to list only the most important pages of your website as your primary menu items, and limit these to no more than 5 or 6. These primary pages may include an About page, Services page, Blog page, Contact page, Testimonials page, and/or whatever else is most important to your business. The subpages under the primary menu items should be relevant to the respective menu item, and should give website visitors easy access to the most important content on your site.
Calls to Action
Invite your prospective customers to engage with your business. Every service- or product-oriented page of your site should have at least one call to action. A call to action is a phrase, link, or button that encourages your visitor to complete an action—usually filling out a contact form or calling your office. Your call to action should be clear, simple, and distinct. Strong calls to action include…
- “Call us to get started”
- “Get a free estimate now”
- “Schedule your appointment today”
- “Contact us to learn more”
Relevant and Well-Written Content
Any customer should understand what services or products your business provides within a few seconds of landing on your site. A web page should be highly relevant to that respective product or service and focus on important keywords that will help users find your site via search engines. Even further, the content must be clear, well-written, and engaging. A page with grammatical errors or awkward sentences makes it difficult for a visitor to understand your services and makes it even less likely that they will become a customer.
Visible Phone Number & Contact Information
Make sure your prospective customers know how to get in touch! A phone number and/or link to a contact form should be included in the header of your site, so that no matter what page a customer is on, they can easily reach out to you. When someone views your website on a mobile device, this phone number can be clickable, so a visitor can immediately call your office with a simple tap. The call to action on every service or product page should include your phone number and/or link to a contact form. The footer of your site should also include your contact information and office address to provide yet another way for visitors to contact you.
Does Your Website Work for You?
If your website does not have some—or any—of these elements, you’re missing out on new customers and increased revenue. As a full-service digital marketing agency in Northern Virginia, KME.digital specializes in building engaging and effective websites. We’ve helped hundreds of local small businesses become more visible in search, gain more clients, and increase their ROI since our founding in 2006.
You need a website that will work for you. We can create it. Contact us today for a free digital evaluation.