5 ways you can improve your website
Creating a website is a great way to promote your business, services and products, but encouraging people to visit it can be difficult.
Below are 5 great tips to help improve your website – and some ideas on how to get started!
1. Responsive Design
Number 1 on our list has to be responsive design. More than half of all searches start on a mobile device, so if your visitors are having trouble using your website, you can guarantee they’re going to click off. That’s half of all your business or sale opportunities potentially wasted.
How to get started
- Find out if your website is responsive: https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
- Make sure you have Google Analytics running so you can see what devices people are using to visit your website.
- If your website is using a premade theme, see if there is an update available, it will most likely be responsive.
- Contact your web developer to see what they recommend to make your website responsive – sometimes it can be easy, depending on how many pages you have.
- Find out more about Responsive Design here.
2. Fresh Content
A quick and easy way to improve your website is to keep it up to date. You should frequently have fresh content on your homepage and landing pages. Your website is a way to let your customers know what you’ve been up. It’s also a way for you to and to advertise your latest products, services and any special deals you might have. If a visitor sees you haven’t updated your website for months, they are less likely to come back.
How to get started
- Make sure you know how to log in to update your website content.
- Post regularly on your blog, your blog may feed directly to the homepage so it’s an easy way to keep it updated.
- Update the images on your homepage.
- If your services change make sure to update them on your website immediately.
3. Concise Message
All too often are websites filled with long pages of text. Keep in mind that most web users simply scan the content. If you have long pages of text, make sure to break them up with headings and images.
How to get started
- Consider how quickly a visitor can understand your business once they’re on the website, they shouldn’t have to search around for information.
- Create a short paragraph (1 or 2 lines) explaining who and what your business is – make sure this is featured on your homepage.
- Use images to help explain your message.
- Consider adding bullet points at the top of pages to summarise what the page is about.
- Highlight key information in bold.
4. Social Networking
Your website and your social media should work hand in hand. Once your visitors are engaged, you want them to share your website content with others (they’ll be more likely to share a good blog article!). Don’t forget to have social buttons in a prominent position that will encourage people to like and share your site on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Social Networking is fundemental to modern websites and encourages people to interact with your business.
How to get started
- Have accounts on relevant social networks. Facebook and Twitter are essential.
- Make sure to be active on your social media accounts and your blog. You should create engaging content on your blog and share that on to your social media accounts. Remember to like and share other people’s content too if it’s relevant to your business, these people will be more likely to do the same for you.
5. Video Content
Videos are a proven way to increase conversion. A professionally created video reflects the care you take with your products and services. Whether it’s a video explaining your product and services, a customer testimonial or even just you speaking about your passion, a video engages with your audience and encourages them to stay on your website.
How to get started
- Find out if any of your customers or clients are willing to give a video testimonial.
- There are lots of cost effective ways to create video content – images transitioning (fading in and out) with an audio overlay might be all you need!
Final Thoughts…
There are many ways to keep improving your website. You might be in need of a redesign, or perhaps there’s just a few final tweaks to make to your current design! Check out our 8 ways to make your website a success for more information.