Five Easy Pieces
Features Every Business Website Must Have
Your website is your brand’s online identity. It is a valuable asset assisting with conversions, SEO and customer engagement. The features you want to be incorporated in your website must naturally be aligned to your goals from it. Having said that, there are certain features that every good business website must possess.
Important business information
The most eye-catching website may miss out on key details about the business, thereby failing to communicate the full brand experience to visitors. For instance, you may have an impressive ‘About Us’ page about your restaurant, but not add your contact information, menu, specials, and directions. If you’re an e-tailer, it is critical to have high-quality product images, and if you’re an accountant or tax preparer, testimonials are absolutely necessary.
To further enhance your website and business visibility and enable other websites to understand your business information, you should format your contact information using “rich snippets” Structured Data. This will help websites and search engines identify critical information like your phone number and street address.
Easy navigation
A website without clear navigation is confusing and off-putting. It can very easily dissuade visitors from browsing your site further, and they may leave without filling out your online inquiry form. As a best practice, a website must have logical names for different pages. When devising a navigation strategy, think from your customers’ point of view. What are their requirements and goals?
What are they trying to achieve?
Are they looking to directly place an order?
Do they need to speak to the customer representative urgently? Such questions will help you plan an easy-to-understand navigation.
Social media integration
Businesses are increasingly becoming social and delivering multi-channel experiences to customers on a variety of online platforms. Integrating social into a website is a key aspect of any SEO strategy. Add social media buttons to your site and encourage visitors to experience your Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest page(s). It is an excellent strategy to boost your social media community and stay front-and-center in customers’ minds.
Robust security
Security seals offer visitors a sense of trust about the website they’re on. This is especially true for an e-commerce store or any site where customers can pay online. So, if you’re selling any product/service on your website and require customers to use their credit or debit cards, you will need to secure it with an SSL certificate. It will go a long way in giving customers peace of mind that they can safely share their personal information with you.
Summer 2018 Update: Chrome now warns users if your site is not encrypted with https!
Reliable hosting
A website that seldom loads is extremely damaging to any business. It is the easiest way to drive customers to competitor websites! Partnering with a trusted web hosting service that provides 24/7 technical assistance is paramount.
The most reliable and secure hosting is on the cloud. The big three are currently AWS Amazon Cloud, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. This site is hosted on AWS through a managed hosting service company. Click here to learn more about managed cloud hosting.
Conclusion
If you are planning on hiring a development firm, make sure you include these features in your project scope.