There are websites and there are websites that work. The latter rank well in search engines so they’re found both by your prospects and they turn those prospects into customers.
After all, what’s the use of more visitors if they don’t buy from you?
Effective Websites include:
1—Good Design – Design should be clean, easy to use and not get in the way of your message.
- Stick to one font. Writing in two or three different types of text is distracting
- Skip the Flash. Flash isn’t mobile friendly or SEO friendly. Search engines can’t read Flash, nor can iPads or iPhones.
- Keep the most important information “Above the fold”—the first screen people see without scrolling.
2–Usability – How easy is your site to use? Get some unbiased opinions on this. Is it obvious who you are and what you do?
- Is your logo in the upper left? Does your logo and tagline express what you do and who you help?
- Do you have a solution-oriented headline at the top of the page that highlights your promise in words your customer would use? (Most businesses don’t)
- Is it easy to know what to do next?
3—Navigation—Stick to convention here. Navigation should run across the top or down the left side. Save the right for special promotions/offers and your newsletter sign up. If you have a shopping cart, that should be in the upper right.
4—Content—Your content should answer the questions your visitors have in the language they use. Keyword research can help. Use a headline in the words your visitors use to find a solution like you.
Have enough copy on the page to tell your both your human visitors and your search engines visitors what your page is about and how you help. 250-300 words will accomplish this.
Calls to Action – Don’t forget to ask your visitor to DO something – call you, send in a contact form. It may sound silly but ask them and your conversions will increase.
5—SEO essentials – know the language your prospects use and what problems you solve for them. Get this across in your copy and your meta-data. If you’re using WordPress, make sure you use an SEO plug in and fill in the available fields. Make your title and description useful to get the click and incorporate the keywords you’ve identified.
Entire disciplines exist around each of these topics with plenty of accompanying books, websites and courses. However, don’t need to be an expert in each to improve your website’s performance. By understanding the critical elements, your website will outperform much of your competition.
Yes, I offer site reviews. If you’d like to know more, click here.
What are your questions about having an effective website? Love to hear in the comments below.
