Five ways to make your website work for you and your business

Let’s be honest, how many businesses do you know who are successful and don’t have a website? No business aiming for success would dare to venture out without first securing a website, which has an address easy to remember. We offer you five ways to make your website work for both you and your business.

– Cut it back

People seem to use the expression ‘less is more’ in many aspects of life. In the case of a website, this is certainly true. If people are bombarded with information when they are searching for answers about your business and what it can offer them, they may leave instantly. Websites that are cluttered with far too many words appear unattractive and can be off-putting.

– Consider your web host carefully

If your web host isn’t working for you, are you able to look into a different one? All too many people complain about the dreamhost status stating it is down again, so why not choose an alternative? It’s always worth doing careful research and talking to likeminded business professionals to gather recommendations.

– Update it regularly

If you change aspects of your business, such as your opening hours, your prices, or even your workers, update your website to reflect this. There is nothing more frustrating than searching for the answers to a question and discovering that it hasn’t been updated for three years. Even more annoying when you turn up expecting the business to be open and the opening hours have changed.

Writing a blog is another great way of providing your customers with regular updates. Not only that, but you are able to link to previous posts and other business’. Working together with local companies, provided they aren’t rivals, can be incredibly beneficial. Getting them to provide guest blog posts, and you reciprocating, means that you’ll likely get more traffic.

– Link to social media

Most businesses have a sound online presence via social media in addition to their website. Linking social media to the website itself, for example via a feed, is a great idea. As with point 3, it gives almost instant updates as it is much simpler to post announcements there in a rush than it is on your website. Having clickable icons linked to your various social accounts can increase your followers and numbers of likes.

–  Clear calls to action

Clever use of calls to action on your website are a great addition. Offering the visitors the chance to take part in a ‘free trial’ or subscribe to a free mailing list are great ways of increasing engagement and sparking interest in what you have to offer. Opting to have a banner is a common decision. Do make sure that whatever the call to action is links clearly to your website and the visitor’s desire. For example, if you have a blog post entitled ‘5 ways to get your car ready for the winter’ and the call to action is asking you to consider getting a free sample of anti-freeze screen wash, the two are linked and so it would be a good marketing ploy.