Websites are your shop window

Your website is your online shop window, and should be given the same thought and recognition as you would to your physical shop window. It allows new customers to find you and advertises your products or services. It also gives you the chance to keep your existing clients up to date, improve your customer service and offer another retail channel. What’s more, there are no geographical limits to the people it can reach, so it can do much more for your business. 

Marketing ConsultancyUKoffer website design and development packages which will give your business a presence online and help you stand out. Important elements to focus on when creating your website include branding, content and navigation. It is crucial to ensure your website is optimised for search engines.

Design & content

Your website needs to reflect your branding and company identity. A poor imitation will turn customers away immediately. It is easier for a customer to click off your website and go to an online competitor than it is in the offline world, so the design of your website is worth investment.

Look to your marketing objectives when writing your content. If your website is a tool to increase sales, then it should be designed in a way that encourages people to buy from your website.

Your homepage is usually the first point of contact with your customers, so it needs to explain clearly what you do and why customers should trust you. An ‘About Us’ page will reinforce the trust issue and give further background information about yourself and the company and exactly what you do. Creating a ‘Contact’ page clearly explains how customers can get in touch with an address, email, phone number and other contact methods. If you have a physical office or shop that customers can visit then a map will be useful.

Navigation

Poor navigation can make for a frustrating experience for your customers and they are likely to leave your site if they cannot find what they want quickly. This will reflect badly on your company and give the impression that you are disorganised.

Good navigation affects usability and should be natural and effortless for the visitor. You need to think how people would logically want to move through your site. Have the most important links on your top navigation bar and then group relevant pages together. For example, if you sell electrical goods you might have a link to ‘TV’s’ from your homepage, which then breaks down into product categories such as ‘LCD TV’s’ or  ‘Plasma TV’s’.

As a small business owner, getting your website wrong whether it be the design, content or usability, can have a negative effect on your business. Your website forms a pivotal part of your marketing so it is essential that you create a great user experience. Marketing Consultancy UK can design and build your company website, no matter how big or small, to ensure you have the best online presence possible.