We all know that failing to have a website is a real problem for brick and mortar businesses. If your website isn’t put together well, and you have have savvy competition, it is often the same as not having a site. Overall, potential customers are more biased toward a well-built website than a substandard one.
Here are a few things that can improve your website and pull back you in the competition:
- Consistency: A consistent and a stable website have more advantages than that of the opposite one. Consistent color schemes, fonts and tabs help visitors find what they are looking for and the faster your visitors find what they are looking for, the happier they will be. User satisfaction is the key.
- Optimize for common browsers: Part of building a website should be a full review of how your site looks and performs across different browsers. Look at the graphics, visuals, text formatting and overall ‘feel’.
- Site availability: there are a number of uninvited bugs that travel around the internet world. These can affect the performance of your websites over a period of time. A quality web host, and maintaining the components or plug-ins used on the site will is always beneficial for your website.
- Simplicity is the best: a simple and composed website is more likely to hold customers than the ones that are way too flashy. Too much of color that hits the eye can be a repelling factor for a customer.
- Up to date: Frequency of updates, and ‘new’ information will help show that you are maintaining your site, and offer value to repeat visitors.
- Know your faults: Doing a good business is only possible when you recognize your limitations and failures. Use feedback forms or social channels to take customer feedback (both bad and good) and use that feedback to implement positive change.
- Quality: SEO rich quality content in the website is the requirement that can’t be compromised. Engaging customers requires great content. Write to your customers and potential customers, not for a brochure.
- Sitemap: Make sure that you have some way to guide users that somehow go astray.
- Forums: a forum is a great way for an active community to discuss issues on the website. This can draw more attention from genuine customers.
- Like what you do: create a website that you feel good about, but design based on your customers or visitors needs, not your own.