focus_contributor.
BUSINESS
MINDS t
LAUREN MCALLISTER AND SIMON BANK FROM WEBSTUDIO
This month there has been a strong push in our region on bouncing back and recovering from lockdown, yet again. We have been working with Clint from My Video Producer, as well as Jane Hillsdon, founder of the How To Do Marketing Academy, on a live streaming series designed to help small businesses get back on track. Clint and Jane have gathered a group of creative marketing professionals from across our region to share their advice and strategies.
O
ur contribution to this initiative is all about helping you get the most out of your website. What are the key elements you need to create the best website for your business? We all know first impressions are crucial. Your website is an essential element of your business’s marketing strategy. It needs to quickly and effectively convey who you are and what you do. Here are seven elements to focus on, when planning and building your business website: User friendly design. First and foremost, think about the information customers are looking to get from your website and ensure it is easy to find. Think of the general path you would like a site visitor to take and lead them there, with links to key pages and helpful articles. Navigation should be intuitive for users. This includes limiting your top-level menu to six or seven clearly labelled tabs, with related pages organised under them. We suggest splitting long blocks of content on each page into smaller sections, mixed with 92 GREATER PORT MACQUARIE
focus
photos and videos that help get your message across. Mobile friendly. A mobile-friendly website keeps your website visitors engaged for longer, increasing the likelihood they will do business with you. This requires some careful planning during the design phase to ensure a seamless experience on mobile devices. Clean, fresh style. You want styling that is consistent with your branding, using authentic imagery and video to give visitors an enjoyable and informative experience. We recommend showing photos and videos that show off your business, whether that be services or products, rather than simply using stock photos. Compelling, unique content. Your content should be based around your key messaging and Unique Value Proposition, setting you apart from your competitors. It should also be interesting and engaging content that is easy to read, yet informative. Research shows users skim read web pages – so you should use clear headings and bullet points to make your content easy to flick through while keeping sentences and paragraphs short.
Easy to find. To ensure your website is found on search engines, your content needs to include strategic keywords, in order to rank well for important search terms. For some businesses, it may be worth spending money on paid search ads – however, it is often more costeffective in the long run to focus on improving your “organic” search engine ranking. Calls to action. Make it crystal clear what you offer, why your product or service is superior, and make it easy for website visitors to take the next step. For example, “call us today for a free in-home consultation”. Regularly updated. An effective website is not “set and forget”. As your business evolves and changes, your website should reflect this. You should aim to publish new content regularly in the form of a blog, as this is a great way to engage current customers and reach new ones. From time to time, a full website renovation is also a great idea. And remember, your website is not the only point of contact by which a potential customer will experience your business. Your branding and messaging needs to be strong and consistent across all platforms.
