Essential Features Every Small Business Website Needs
Whether you’re a start-up looking for rapid growth, or a local business maintaining your customer base, building a website is an essential part of your online success. Over the years, web strategy has become an effort that is no longer restricted to tech-savvy professionals. Even small business owners can take advantage of several features to enhance and build their websites.
As you design your website, the features you implement will impact visitors’ experience and engagement. By using the following features, you can build a website that is well-suited for your goals and customer base.
Clear Navigation
When a customer first lands on your site, you want their website journey to be seamless. This starts with having clear navigation implemented in your design. Navigation links, drop-downs menus, and calls-to-action are a few ways to direct visitors throughout your web content. You don’t want the user to feel challenged while exploring your website, otherwise they may leave prematurely.
Implementing a search feature within your site can also provide a direct way for visitors to find specific results on your website. It’s equally essential that navigation stays clear and organized in the mobile versions of your site, which is where coding can get complicated. Utilizing a web management platform will make these aspects of small business website development easy, as they prevent manual coding and troubleshooting.
Company Details
Some small businesses miss the mark by not providing detailed information about services, offerings, and business background. For businesses that have been around for a long time, it may not seem necessary. However, websites are not just for start-ups. If your business has been around for a while but is new to the web, it may open the door to new audiences you’ve never reached before. Sharing detailed information about your company on an “About Us” page is essential to a customer who’s brand-new to your business.
Online menus, pricing, and service options are all examples of context that can affect a customer’s purchasing decisions. Hours of operation and location are important details too. A FAQ section will allow you to list answers to common questions so that consumers don’t need to ask you directly. These examples are all critical and play a role in the customer journey as they engage with your business.
Contact Information
When you’re running a small business, whether by yourself or with a small team, your resources are tight. You need to ensure that web visitors have a way to get in touch with you. Having a dedicated communication tool on your website will help visitors feel acknowledged, and can encourage them to interact with your team. Start by setting up a landing page that lists a phone number or email address so that a customer can contact you directly.
If you find yourself overloaded with customer feedback, you may need a more organized approach. Instead of listing an email address, incorporate a form on your site to help you organize responses. For instance, you can use a drop-down form to separate customer feedback from service requests. For those feeling tech-savvy, chatbots have been a popular AI feature that manages questions and provides a direct line to a company rep when necessary.
A Blog or News Tab
In the early growth stages of a business, operational processes are fast-paced. You’ll make achievements and hit new milestones in the first few years that you’ll want to capture. Including a blog or news tab on your website will allow customers to see your company’s success. A news section may also be used to keep your followers informed on staffing, inventory, process changes, and any other updates that could affect them.
A notable perk to this feature is the opportunity to share this content across other channels. Some websites incorporate a subscription system so that customers get email notifications when new posts are published. You can utilize social media and SEO practices to share this content elsewhere and ultimately create more website traffic. Some web platforms allow you to publish the blog and share across social media with one click, making it an easy process for one person to complete.
Engagement Features
Not only do you need content for your own social pages, but you want your content to be easy for your website viewers to share. Incorporating quick sharing links will motivate users to share content and products they love outside of your website. This type of website engagement will serve as organic web promotion for your business. Consumers can share their favorite content on their own profiles, and then influence their friends to learn more about the brand.
Engagement features can also build a community among your followers. For instance, adding comment sections or a forum can encourage feedback and conversation within your website. Interacting with your audience as a brand within these features will make your customers feel seen and encourage loyalty. Using analytical tracking, you’ll be able to tell how certain engagement features affect other behaviors on your website. Those selling products on their website are likely to see a more direct correlation between sales and engagement rates.
A Work in Progress
Over time, you may find yourself experimenting with different strategies. Certain features may work better than others for your goals, but it’s worth testing out all tools available to you. New technology advancements will open up more opportunities for website development as well. Maintaining your website will keep you on your feet, and in the end, will contribute to your business’s growth.
