Every business needs more than just a physical outlet to make it successful. It is the age of digitization, and without a substantial digital footprint, almost impossible to survive against the giants in the industry, let alone compete with them. They need to stay toe to toe with the practices of the top contenders. However, that is only possible if their social media and websites are prominent enough to make them easily accessible to their customers.
A website is an online store for any business that is widely available for customers and clients. With it, you can expect to go global instead of sticking to a regional level of work. Not only do you maximize your reach, but also the range of services that you can offer to your consumers. Because you do not have to showcase anything physically, that means that you can outsource and retail the work of others and start capitalizing on it. But like the physical world, even the digital one is all about mundane mindsets.
People decide where to shop and what they are willing to buy from the outlook of the store. The rich are more interested in price tags, the simpletons get impressed by the quality of service, while some just run after brand names and trademarks. Setting up your business online is no different. Your webpage becomes your store, and its looks, functionality, and performance, determine how people perceive your work. Prepare an attractive and appealing page to customers, and you can count on having a prosperous business.
Unfortunately, despite digitization being around for long, not everyone is as used to it as the others. Simply put, there are good and bad practices while introducing your business website. And not being able to meet some standards can affect your work negatively before you even begin. That is why you need to take them into account before proceeding with the idea.
Hiring the services of a professional website designer is a good option, but it is not too difficult to go at it with WordPress yourself. There are plenty of useful tutorials online to help you with building your website from scratch. Here are 7 essential features that every good business website must have to keep you above the benchmark. Use them as pointers to get the optimum results on your first crack at it.
1. Strong Security
Web security is perhaps the most significant aspect of your webpage. Neglecting it can result in catastrophic results for your business. Hackers can steal some private information from your clients and yourself and deteriorate the outlook of your page. They can place random orders or delete the email lists that you built over the years.
Luckily enough, web designing with WordPress has its set of impressive perks. You can use the WordPress security and protection service and make sure that no such crisis befalls upon you. It is advanced, efficient, and offers premium security against any malicious activity. Hence, the best possible option to safeguard your business.
2. Smooth Navigation & Information
While designing a webpage, remember who is going to use it. If the answer is obvious, then you also need to take into account that not every customer is going to be a genius.
Not finding relevant links or information on your webpage can annoy or frustrate your clients. That will make them not want to come back to your page again at all. Make sure that your welcome page clearly outlines your work and the services that you offer. Try to highlight the links to specific services and use sensible drop-down menu names so that everyone can find what they want.
Avoid getting too involved with aesthetics, or you will end up compromising the functionality of your page. Take a hint from those who realized it the hard way that no one enjoys a page taking too much time to generate search results. Smooth navigation and relevant information are two things that you should focus on carefully.
3. Social Media Integration
Social media is what makes the industrial world go round at this point. It is how you make everyone know of your existence and connect with them through a pre-established centralized channel. Specific searches aside, even general search engines often return queries with your social media account. That is why you need to have an active social media presence integrated with your webpage. Link the responses so that they are real-time, and even first-time visitors can take a mental note of your social media. That will make you easily accessible and maximize your reach.
4. Mobile-Friendly Version
Most of this digitization is all thanks to the growing use of cell phones. Everyone owns a mobile device serving them in multiple capacities, more like a one-stop guide to every piece of information.
To make your business successful, you need to ensure that your webpage has a mobile-friendly version for your customers. It enables them to access and get information or complete sales from your page more conveniently. Thus, making it more attractive to use.
5. Contact Details
Unlike a store, there is no one in person to attend the customers, or they can reach out. Although it might let businesses that focus on sales survive, it can be challenging for people that offer online services. There can be a significant communication gap or trust issues between the client and the contractor. That is why your contact details and exact map location should always be a part of your website.
6. FAQ Section
Not everyone dials you up or drops a message to ask answers for general questions. Plus, you cannot expect one-liners to be descriptive enough to cover the complete scope of your work. Having an FAQ section to clarify the general queries is what makes a business successful. Outline your policies and share what your clients should do while facing a problem with your work. They also serve as excellent disclaimers, so be sure that you do not miss out on any essential details to avoid legal issues.
7. Fresh Content & Images
And lastly, a lively page attracts more and more people. Try to keep your page flooded with fresh content and images regarding your work to keep your clients interested. Send out newsletters when you introduce something new to invite people to your page. Make them feel welcomed and keep them updated with your services so that you don’t skip a potential business opportunity.
Summary
These are the seven most important features that every good business website must have to maximize their potentials and aim for flourishing. Use them as the boundary line inside which you should experiment, while working on your business website through WordPress. Once you get the hang of things, you can start expanding horizons and explore other possibilities of design for your website.
Originally posted 2020-05-29 09:52:07.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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