Most websites are pretty bad! Poor design, missing key features and unclear services can ruin a user's experience. This then turns visitors into lost customers.
The good news? Every website, regardless of industry, has tremendous potential to convert visitors into customers.
It sounds simple enough yet many websites miss critical points. This results in missed sales opportunities.
Creating a quality website doesn’t need to be done by professionals. Every point here can be done by individuals with no technical skills required.
Here are my 8 tips that will instantly make your website 10x better, while taking no time to put in place.
Table of contents:
1. Security
This one is by far the most important point on this list! Most modern browsers (Chrome, Explorer, Safari, ...) prevent users from entering a website that is not secure.
You might have already seen this before. The difference between secured and not secured is HTTPS vs. HTTP in the URL. Secured websites are found at https://website.com and non-secured websites at http://website.com.
Right off the bat, you're losing a potential customer for security reasons. You might have the best product or service, but it doesn't matter because no one can come to see it.
The way to prevent this is through SSL certificates (Secure Sockets Layer). I won't go into detail about what it is exactly, you can read this article to find out more. This is not negotiable and you absolutely need it.
Based on your hosting service or website builder, the process to enable SSL may vary. My recommendation is to search on Google "Enable SSL for {insert your platform here}".
2. Branding
Branding is what defines your brand and how visitors will see you. It needs to complement your business and what product or service you offer.
Branding is key and some agencies specialize in helping companies with their branding. While I agree that it's an essential part of any business, I also believe there is a simple approach to it. Later on, you might want to consider expanding on this. To get started, keep this simple and consistent.
All you need is:
- A company name
- A logo
- An accent colour
That's it! Simple enough but many websites miss this part. Don't know how to make a logo? There are lots of online tools to create logos in minutes with ZERO graphic design skills.
Put your company name in the menu at the top of the page, next to your logo. Add your accent colour to buttons and important information for your customers.
Don't overcomplicate this step.
3. Company Statement
Visitors need to instantly know what your product or service is. This is where most companies get it wrong and lose their customers’ interest.
Simply put, this is one sentence that you will put at the top of your home page that lets everyone know what you do.
Don’t try to sound smart and fancy, be simple, clear and concise. Stop the marketing nonsense and go straight to the point. It shouldn’t sound revolutionary, but it should tell your visitors what you do.
For example, if you are a plumber in Toronto:
- Don’t say “Wizard Defying Gravity to Exterminate Drain Clogs!”
- Say “Your Expert Plumber in Toronto”
Other examples from famous brands:
- Shopify: “The global commerce platform”
- PayPal: “Send money to friends and family around the world”
- WordPress: “Welcome to the world’s most popular website builder.”
Just like your branding, the simpler the better. If you can't explain your own business in one sentence, you can't expect customers to figure it out. Don't let them guess, tell them directly.
4. Call to Action
What do you want your visitors to do while on your site? Is it making a purchase, subscribing, or contacting you? Once you have figured it out, give them an easy way to do just that.
Your call-to-action (referred to as CTA), should be at the top of your website on your home page. I encourage you to visit websites you’re familiar with, they should all have a CTA right at the top of the page.
Don’t hesitate to add your CTA in more places. A common practice is to add it right before the bottom of the page (called the footer). It usually takes the entire width of the screen and is found on every page.
Here are the CTA from the above-mentioned websites:
- Shopify: “Start Free trial”
- PayPal: “Sign Up for Free”
- WordPress: “Get Started”
5. Contact Options
You need to have a way for visitors to contact you. Here again, most of the websites you’re familiar with have a contact page. There’s often a form, sometimes an email, phone number, or both.
Whether it’s for a question, a review or to get help, you have to be easily reachable.
If you’re more advanced or have more traffic coming to your website, think about adding a live chat feature as well.
Here are some options you might want to check out:
- Contact Forms: Jotform, WPForms, Formidable Forms
- Chatbots: Intercom, HubSpot, Salesforce
6. Blog
Creating a blog is by far the best way to be discovered on the internet.
With a blog, your website will rank with Google for more topics than just your product or services. Users might hear about you through a blog article first and then discover your services.
Simply put, creating a blog helps your business appear in more searches.
Making a blog is simple but it requires consistency and quality content to be effective. It takes some time to write but it offers tremendous potential when done right.
The best part is that most website builders offer this feature already built-in. No need to write code or do anything complicated.
7. Mobile Devices
The vast majority of people use a smartphone to browse the internet. Your website needs to adapt to any screen size. This is called responsiveness and it’s an absolute priority.
This is done by having your content resized or repositioned based on the device size. This way, users can still read everything, regardless of their devices.
The best websites look great on any device. From a large desktop screen, to a laptop, a tablet or a phone. Web developers recommend designing your website for mobile devices first. You can then adapt it to larger screens.
Most website builders come with this feature built-in. It may have to move some things around to make sure everything looks good on mobile as well.
8. Trust/Social Proofing
This helps visitors feel confident you are the right business for them. This can be done with reviews, testimonials or past partnerships.
Customer reviews or past partnerships are the best way to build trust. In return, visitors will feel confident that your company can also help them.
Examples:
- Slack: On their homepage, they showcase their partners: Airbnb, NASA, Uber, Target and The New York Times. This immediately builds trust in their product.
- Intercom: They have customer reviews and success stories all over their websites.
There you have it. 8 features that every website needs to put in place from the beginning. Some of these can be implemented in no time and need very little work to maintain. Others might take a little longer to put in place (like a blog or a list of customer reviews).
If you add these 8 features, your website will instantly become more valuable. In return, this may be the reason why your visitors choose you over your competitors. At the end of the day, everything you do is meant to drive more revenue for your business.