What are Essential Business Features for Small Business?
With easy access to social media applications, small business owners sometimes think that a website is unnecessary. The fact is, people interested in your products and services are not all tied to one or two particular applications, and a website provides a central location for information about your business, and how to connect with you in real life and on many different applications. The following website features will ensure that visitors to your website have easy access to you and information about your business:
Domain name. Try to select a domain name that is not too long, is easy to remember, and does not contain hyphens or difficult spelling. A domain name that ends in “.com” is ideal. Once you have narrowed it down to a few possible domain names, consult with a domain name checker to see if those domain names are available. If so, you can either register the domain name yourself through ICANN, or you can select a web host that will register the domain name for you. Once you have a registered domain name and a web host, you are ready to being developing and designing your website.
Navigation on top and bottom. In order to make your website easy to navigate, navigation should be placed at the top of the page and on the footer. This allows visitors to easily find what they are looking for.
Contact info. Visitors may come to your website specifically to find out how to reach you by phone, email, snail mail, or to find out your hours of operation. Make this information easy to obtain by placing it near the top of the page, and preferably with a map.
Calls to Action (CTA). CTAs should be placed throughout your website and several times on the homepage. Experienced website developers can help with this, as they have the skills and insight needed to design strategically so that your visitors are compelled to take action without feeling bothered.
Responsiveness. Ensure that your website is responsive whether it is viewed on PCs, laptops, tablets, or mobile phones. It is particularly important to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, as this impacts your website’s ranking in Google search results.
Coding. A professional web developer can help you with your website design to ensure that all of the pieces of the website work as intended to create the best user experience.
Reviews. Including reviews and testimonials about your products and services lets visitors to your website know that your business is well established and has a record of satisfaction.
Blog. Including a blog on your website has many benefits: it drives traffic to your website by improving your ranking in Google searches, it demonstrates to your visitors that you are active and engaged, and it allows customers to learn more about what your business is currently doing and interested in.
Trust badges. Trust badges are seals that you place on your website that help to instill trust in your website visitors and they should be placed on your website to let your visitors know that you want them to be completely satisfied.