What Are The Top Three Things All Small Business Websites Need?

Just because you’re a small business, doesn’t mean your website should be any less important, or not be given as much attention, as that of your larger competitors. In fact, this is your chance to shine and compete with other organizations that are much larger-and the fact that you’re a small business will be virtually unknown by your website visitors. That’s the beauty of small business websites.

If you’ve ever done research on your online competition (if you haven’t, it is time to do so), then you’ve probably ran across some less than desirable small business websites. You know the ones. Too much flash, poor grammar, text that is out place, too many keywords are stuffed within the page, and poor layout on the homepage. If you’ve already established your website, perhaps it is time to give it another look? You want to ensure it’s the best it can be-not only for the sake of your website, but for the benefit of your business.

There are three essential elements to all small business websites, including:

1) Quality Content. Obviously, there’s no reason to have a website if it isn’t worth visiting. You want your website to showcase what you have to offer. This doesn’t just include your products and services, but also your organization’s professionalism. Your site needs to show that you are, in fact, a professional organization. Poorly designed sites often give the wrong impression and may deter potential clients from purchasing from your site. What’s more, a site that has quality content within it and is updated regularly assists with your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. It’s a win-win!

2) Simple, and well-designed with SEO in mind. A website needs to be well-planned with a site map that is designed to walk the visitor logically through your site. Can your visitors locate all of the information they need regarding your products? Are there helpful guides and well-titled drop-downs to assist your readers? What about helpful content? It’s very useful to provide tips or helpful information regarding your industry to help your visitors be well-informed consumers. It should also be presented in a simple format. Online users like to read short paragraphs, bulleted lists, and see plenty of white space. Keep it simple for the best results. Your site needs to be optimized for SEO from the very beginning, if possible. If you already have a site established and need to optimize it for SEO, that’s okay too. Just make sure it is done.

3) Call to Action. As in all direct response, you want a strong offer. This is a fundamental in all advertising forums. Small business websites are no exception. What can you offer your prospective customers that others cannot? Perhaps, you can offer a buy one, get one free just for filling out the contact information page. Another option may be to provide free standard shipping to clients that visit your site. Whatever you can do to make it beneficial and urgent to respond, is a strong call to action. It goes without saying that your site should have all of your contact information displayed prominently on each of your website pages-not just your homepage. Also, be sure to provide all means of contacting your business, including email, phone number(s), and your mailing/physical address. This will help establish your credibility. Don’t make your clients search for how to contact you or they may lose interest and navigate away from your site.

Make sure your site doesn’t get lost in the sea of sites online. Create a well-developed website with a stellar SEO plan and you’ll soon be on your way to the top.