There are nearly 2 billion websites online today. So, if you’ve got a digital homepage of your own, then you want to make sure it stands out.
Perhaps you’re looking at your website and finding that it appears a bit lacklustre. You want to fix it up, but you want to ask the pros: how would you improve a website?
Here are nine of the best tips to make your website better, boost traffic, and find success online.
1. Keep the Content Fresh
When’s the last time you updated the content on your website? If you can’t remember, then it’s probably time you spruce things up.
Visitors who come to your site looking for information or updates will not be impressed if they find outdated news updates, contact information, staff listings, and more. Think about it: how frustrating is it when you want to scope out a restaurant’s menu before dining there and they still have their Christmas menu up in July?
Luckily, you Make a note in your calendar to skim your site at the start or end of each month just to make sure everything is up to date.
2. Skip the Fluff
Another no-no when it comes to web content is filler content. You shouldn’t have anything on your website just for the sake of it.
Instead, your website should be chock-full of useful information — and that’s it. People’s attention spans online can be as short as 12 seconds, so you want to give them what they need ASAP.
On that note, you should make sure that, visually, you skip the fluff, too. White space is good for small business website design. It’s easier on the eyes and makes it possible for users to focus on the important information they need.
Examine your website’s images, too. Stock photos won’t do anything to engage viewers of your content. Instead, have personal images — or take them yourself, if you have the eye — so the website doesn’t feel so cookie-cutter.
3. Give Users a Call to Action
You want to know how to improve your website and get more traffic. But you should also want to figure out ways to build your audience and keep in touch with potential clients.
So, make sure you add a call to action somewhere on your website. What do you want visitors to do when they visit you online? Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter, make reservations, or call to schedule an appointment or consultation?
Make the text explaining this prominent, and make it easy for clients to figure out what they’re supposed to do. That way, they have a pleasant user experience, and you get what you want from your website, too.
4. Boost the Speed
Think about yourself as a web user. Do you like to wait around for a site to load?
The answer to that question is probably no. So, you have an idea of what might bug people who come to your website and find that it takes forever to load.
A quick way to boost your site’s download speed is to make sure your images are the right size. Extra-large, high-quality images will take a while to download. Make sure you compress every image, too — this will ensure they’re as small as possible and download ASAP.
5. Use Bullet Points
You can convey plenty of important information without loading up your website with text. If you find that your site still looks text-heavy with all of the above suggestions, try using bullet points to space out your sections.
Bullet points don’t have to be boring, either. You can make them different shapes and colors to go with the theme of your site. Some companies will even do segmented sections with icons or pictures — not quite bullet points, but sentences split up by icons or graphics.
Get creative with segmented text, and it’ll be that much easier for users to find the key information ASAP.
6. Make Reviews a Priority
People want to know that they’re spending their money in a good place. So, any website design for small businesses should include reviews or testimonials from customers.
You probably have reviews somewhere on the web — Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc. Include a widget on your site where customers can read through these recommendations to make them more confident in your products or services.
If you don’t have a big amount of reviews online, try reaching out to past clients or customers for testimonials. Sharing positive experiences you’ve created can push other potential leads over the line.
7. Keep It Cohesive
Your small business website design should be consistent from page to page, too. If a client visits your homepage, then clicks to another page on the menu, they should find the same color scheme and fonts.
Otherwise, they might get a bit confused and think to themselves, I guess I left the page I was just on? And, as you can probably imagine, they won’t stay on your site for long if they think it’s the wrong place. Instead, they’ll find another website — and business — that can give them what they need.
8. Don’t Forget About Phones
You probably designed your website on a computer. So, you had no trouble checking to make sure that the pages looked perfect on a desktop.
Don’t forget to make sure your website looks just as good from someone’s phone. People spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on their phones, and so they need to access websites that are functional from there, too. Otherwise, you’ll lose their interest — and their business, which is precisely what you don’t want.
How Would You Improve a Website? Start Here.
There’s no single answer to the question, how would you improve a website? However, this list is a great checklist to figure out how to draw people in, boost traffic, and enhance your business, too.
Need more business news and advice? Be sure to check back with us for more.
