When you own an online business, you want to make sure that everything runs smoothly. There are so many different elements of an online business to think about, and you will always want to bear in mind that you want to also be able to grow and improve over the years. If you feel as if you are stuck in a rut at the moment and you need to find ways to grow, then take a look at some of these tips to boost your business in 2018.
Despite the proven cases of people making significant earnings from their websites, not everyone has what it takes to make a living from blogging or selling online. Talent may be one aspect, but the biggest factor in a blogger’s success or an online business owner has to do with their website and understanding your user’s needs. There is a lot of competition out there, no matter what your niche is, so you need to find a way to make your site stand out from the crowd. Here is an essential checklist for a successful website to get you started on your blogging business.
Easy to find
You could build the most eye-catching website and write brilliant, inspiring content on a daily basis, but it won’t do you any good if no one can find your site in the first place. Your domain name is also your brand name, so you want to make sure it’s unique. When you go to purchase your URL they will let you know which domain names are available, so you can still use something that accurately represents your business and services. Your domain name must be catchy, it should contain some keywords so that people can find it when they type those words into a search engine.
Visually pleasing
Looks are everything in marketing, and your website should be no different. Your homepage is the first thing people will see when they look up your website. Keep it clear and simple, but make it a summarization of what your business offers. This can include a big headline, and a slightly smaller sub-headline. The important thing to remember is that none of your selling should happen on your home page. Hardly anyone wants to buy when they first arrive at a website, and shoving a shopping basket in their face from the very beginning won’t encourage many of them to return. Instead, just give them short, digestible snippets of information, and encourage them to keep browsing the site for more information.
Contact information
If you’re selling products or services your customers need a way to get in touch with you. Or you might have customers that want to do business with you, or just give you some valuable feedback on your website. Either way, you need to have contact information clearly displayed somewhere on your site. Make the contact details available on every page so that visitors don’t have to jump back to the home page if they are suddenly inspired to get in touch. You should also include more than one way to get in touch; email and phone are both good options, but social media integration can let you know who is following you on these platforms.
Mobile friendly version
Smartphones and mobile devices are incredibly convenient, and most people browse the internet when they’re out and about. If you want to drive up your website traffic, you need to make a mobile friendly version of your site so that customers can stay updated even on their morning commute.
Customer Success
Ensuring that your customer can navigate your website easily is vital. You need to understand what your customer’s needs are in order to make customer success a reality. There are various customer success software programs available to help you do this. Investing in them is well worth the cost and the ROI is great!
