Your small business site is one of the most important parts of your business. It’s one of the first places where prospects will discover and decide whether or not to do business with you.

 

Whether you’ve just started or have been doing business for years, there’s always plenty of room for improvement.

 

In this post, we’ll walk you through the eight practical tips on building your small business site:

 

1. Focus on your website’s goal

Identify your customers and how they’ll be using your site. Doing so lets you drill down your site’s purpose and why it’s there in the first place.

Are your customers:

• Meeting you face to face or visiting your site?
• Finding your site online and then visiting your physical store?
• Visiting your site to buy?
• Visiting to learn?

 

It helps to place yourself in your customers’ shoes to know what they’re expecting from your site. You can also utilize free tools such as Google Analytics to give valuable data on how users currently find and use your site.

 

2. Produce and engaging content

The time users spend on your site and how likely they will revisit it is linked to your content creation and quality. You must create interesting, thoroughly fact-checked content to keep up with your competitors.

 

You also need to tailor your content depending on your niche. Are you selling highly visual products? Then high-quality images are an excellent way to go. If you’re into something more technical, opt for more readable, waffle-free content.

 

3. Make your homepage informative

Ideally, your homepage immediately communicates your business’s core message or selling point. In a world faced with decreasing attention spans and large qualities of online content, getting straight to the point is crucial.

 

Naturally, users will scan your site for the most relevant information, and an overcrowded site can frustrate them.

 

4. Improve your website’s navigation

Your site’s content might be great, but it can only be as effective as its navigation. If users have difficulty finding the content, products, or offers they want on your site, they’ll eventually leave.

 

So, the navigation of your site all comes down to two factors. First is the menu, and second is your internal links. Most sites have a primary navigation menu at the top of each page and a sidebar and footer with links to less important pages.

 

5. Consider readability

The most successful websites share two design elements: readability and simplicity. Overly complicated designs can end up being too difficult to navigate.

 

On the other hand, simple designs are elegant and timeless. They don’t overwhelm the user. They avoid a cluttered look by making good use of whitespace.

 

Don’t be afraid to try various designs as well. Simplicity doesn’t mean it has it be boring. It’s one way for your brand to shine by providing a crisp and clean look.

 

6. Optimize your website for search engines

Making your small business site search engine friendly so that it can easily be found on online searches is also key. Although search engine optimization or SEO may sound extremely technical, there are simple SEO tactics that you can do to make your site rank higher on Google.

 

For instance, you can optimize every site page for a unique and specific keyword. You can use cheap and free keyword research tools to help you find which words or phrases your target audience is looking for.

 

7. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly

Do you know that over 60% of all searches happen on a mobile device?

It means that there’s a high chance that customers are using their phones to find you online. For instance, users might google your business name and click on the resulting link to their page.

 

Therefore, if you’re considering a small business website design, mobile is one of the most important things to remember.

 

8. Select a reliable hosting plan

In the same way, you should also buy a web hosting plan from a trusted web hosting company. Here are some of the most important factors to consider when picking the right web host provider.

 

• User-friendly setup and use. Know what control panel the hosting provider offers.
• Storage and bandwidth limit. Know how much storage your site will need. It would help to consider the expected traffic volume to prevent website crashes.
• Site security. Ensure your site has built-in security features like anti-DDoS protection and a free SSL certificate to keep your site secure.
• Site performance. Page loading speed is critical to enhancing search engine optimization as well as the overall experience of users.
• Customer support. To ensure your small business site’s success, pick the best hosting services that give you excellent and reliable support.

 

As soon as you find the right hosting company, it would help if you choose a web hosting plan that best fits your needs.

 

Over to You

For your small business to stay competitive, you must make your site a place your audience enjoys visiting.

 

Whether opening a new online store or just revamping your site, you must take advantage of our outlined tips to reach out and engage with your customers in ways they’ll appreciate. While making significant changes on your site can be daunting, it’s one of the worthwhile things you can do for your business. Good luck!