Your website is the digital face of your business. It’s how people are able to connect with your mission, and even purchase your products and services. But the truth is, technology is constantly advancing. The design and functionality of a website are always changing.
Plus, various industries, like commercial real estate or property management, require very specific elements in order to meet the unique necessities of a person’s business.
But despite how many changes might happen or how you may need to cater to your website to meet the needs of your clients, there are a few fundamental elements that every website needs in order to thrive.
Take a look at the top five essentials for any successful website.
Mobile Friendly
Did you know that 82% of people make purchasing decisions from their phones? For any website to be successful, it absolutely needs to be mobile-friendly. That way, when people are making decisions on the fly, like searching for somewhere to have dinner or for apartments online, they won’t immediately leave your website because they can’t do it from their iPhone or Android.
There is also the fact that search engines now give higher rankings to websites that are mobile-friendly. If you aren’t sure how your site is doing, take a look at Google Page Speed. Submit your website and the platform will do an entire analysis of how it runs both on desktop and mobile.
It will then provide you with detailed descriptions as to what could be causing any loading delays.
Easy to Navigate Design
When someone comes to your website, you want to keep it plain and simple on where they can find exactly what they need. Nothing can deter someone from leaving a website other than getting lost immediately once they hit the home page.
Keep your navigation bar limited. If you have multiple different pages, break them up into categories. Always make sure to have an easy way for users to know how to get back to the home page.
That way if they get lost, they know how to come right back to where they started.
About Us Page
With there being so much competition out there, more people are making their purchasing decisions after they’ve done a little research about the company they are buying from. Providing a page on your website that tells the story behind your business is especially important for small businesses.
Not only that, but your About Us page is a huge opportunity to share testimonials along with your social media accounts to allow people to connect with your business on a more personal level.
How To Contact
If a potential or current client wants to get in contact with your business, would they know how to do it? If someone wants to get in touch, more than likely they will pull out their phone and do a search for your business’s website.
Providing quality customer service means providing visitors with a clear way to contact you. This could be through phone, email, or an address (although we always suggest having a professional email address as one of the top ways for someone to communicate if you don’t accept phone calls).
Call To Action
Your website is more than a portfolio of your work or a gallery of your products. It’s a chance to generate leads or increase your sales. If you aren’t guiding users who visit your website to take action, you are missing out on huge opportunities.
Provide a clear call to action on your website. Do you want them to set up a free consultation? Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? Do you want them to download a coupon that captures their email address?
Once you decide what you want them to do on your website, make sure to list it more than one time. Put your call-to-action clearly throughout different pages of the site instead of simply one time on the home page.
Whether you are building your website or redesigning it to meet the needs of your customers, make sure to do an analysis of your site to see what basic functionalities it might be missing. You don’t want to miss out on potential sales opportunities because of one simple change you could have made.