Don’t let your website hurt your business
Your website is the online personality and cornerstone of your business. The look of your a site can inspire trust or turn potential customers away. Here are some tips for designing a great website for your small business.
Have a Logo
You need to separate your business from the rest, and a logo is an important part of identifying your brand. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it has to be uniquely yours. A logo also defines the colors that will be used on your site and in other marketing, so choose them carefully.
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Use Icons
Icons are an easy way to a graphical element to your website. A designer can make them from scratch for you, or there are a lot of great icon sets pre-made and ready to go (and in some cases – FREE). For instance, an icon can call attention to your Facebook page link (and you have one, right?).
We use icons on our services page to help differentiate the types of services we offer. Most social media sites have a standard icon that is used to represent them, and they’re pretty easy to find and download. Stock photo sites such as istockphoto.com also offer icon sets for just about everything you can imagine.
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Have a Call to Action
So a user has made it to your website. Now what do you want them to do? Your site needs to have a clear goal, and it has to be easy to find. Large buttons that use contrasting colors get users’ attention, and hopefully get them to click.
The text on the button is important. The phrase “click here” is generic and doesn’t let the user know what process they are starting. Use clear text that explains the action you want a user to take.
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Keep it Uncluttered
Let your website breathe. Users will leave quickly if they feel overwhelmed with information. Whitespace is the amount of space between elements and, when used correctly, it can really enhance the user experience and interaction on your site. Proper spacing will guide users through the various sections of your site and lead them to your call to action.
Include Responsive Design
Don’t ignore mobile devices. Your users won’t. The newest and most comprehensive solution to mobile browsing is responsive design, where the layout of your site responds and adjusts to the screen size of the device. This means you don’t need an entirely separate site for mobile use. Just be sure to plan for responsive design when developing the layout of your site.
Keep the design of your site clear and focused on your goals. When you plan your site carefully and follow the tips in this article, you’ll create a great user experience on your site.
If you need professional guidance in your online marketing, let AMG design a great website for your business today. Call 866-520-3030 today or contact us online for a free website assessment!
Excuse me, but this advice is woefully lacking for a typical small business person. The most important aspect of a website is any contain information that a potential customer will use to evaluate the small business specifically, whether they are worthy of doing business together. Yes, detailed information about products and/or services is important but so are testimonials and anything else that puts small business’s best Foot forward.
Thank you for your feedback. While we certainly agree that testimonials are an important feature to include in a small business website (and we actively encourage our clients to have a testmonials page), the intended focus of this blog was design and layout, not specific features.
Thank you for your feedback. While we certainly agree that testimonials
are an important feature to include in a small business website (and we
actively encourage our clients to have a testimonials page), the intended
focus of this blog was design and layout, not specific features.
Understood. Thank you for clearing that up.