Your website is your 24/7 employee. It’s working while you work, and continues to work after you’ve left the office. It’s your calling card, your opportunity to connect with your audience and promote your product. And with online shopping being responsible for 20.8% of worldwide retail sales, you don’t want to miss out on this chance for sales growth. Which is why today we’re talking the top 10 musts for your website.
1. What’s the Problem You Solve for Your Customer?
First things first, your home page. Here is where you want to clearly state what product or service you offer. Better yet, what is the problem you solve for your customer? Every creating decision for your website should, in some way, answer this question, as this should be your brand’s main objective. Make this answer clear on your home page, so your potential consumer sees it, understands it, and doesn’t have to go “searching” for it. Because they won’t. 40% of online shoppers will wait no more than 3 seconds before leaving a site. So, make your mission quick and clear.
The best medium for doing this? Video. It’s been reported that viewers remember 95% of a video message vs. only 10% via text. So, press record, and stay memorable!
2. Call-to-Actions
Another of the 10 musts for your website, is including call-to-action buttons. These are prompts that lead your customer to take action. They could be a number of things, including:
- A Subscribe button (if you have a blog)
- Start Your Project! (We use this one for our clients.)
- Learn more
- Add to Cart
The list goes on. These buttons should be short, clear, and easily found on each content page of your website. Use strong action words, with clear directives. After all, your customer is here to solve their problems, so lead them to do so!
3. An “About Us” Page
People are drawn to authenticity. Consumers no longer just want to buy your product, they need to know your brand’s values, and that they can trust you. So start building by telling them! You can easily do this through an “About Us” page. Tell them your story, what inspired you to start your company! What’s your “why”? What’s important to you? The more you can humanize your brand, the quicker you’ll begin to initiate those long-term client relationships.
4. Examples of Work/Product
The best way to prove your brand’s quality of product or service is by showing them. If you sell a tangible product, create an explainer video, showing your customer how it works and (again) what problem it solves for them. Or, if you run a company to do with service, share a customer testimonial video, expressing their satisfaction over what you provided. Word-of-mouth is still one of the strongest ways to increase brand credibility and inspire confidence in a new buyer.
5. Clear Navigation
We felt this one needed its own blurb, as it is THAT important. Your brand’s website should be clear and simple to navigate. It’s easy to want to look extra “fancy” and incorporate all sorts of marvelous design, but if your website pages are at all confusing, you’ll lose your audience. So, to ensure they don’t experience any frustration or confusion, keep your pages clean, with simple menus, clear CTAs, and quick loading ability.
6. Page Loading Speed
This last one is super important, as the time it takes for your web pages to load can make or break your audience staying. The recommended loading time for a web page should exceed no more than 3 seconds, as that is when people start leaving if content is not visible. Ways to do this? Again, keep it simple. Of course it is important to post video content that promotes your product and/or message, but make sure you’re not filling up each individual page with TOO much content. For one, including too much information can be confusing, leading your consumer to miss your message entirely. Secondly, your brand’s main message should be able to be told succinctly. If not, you may need to revisit and reword. So post what is necessary and helpful to your consumer–anything that does not fall under this category, leave out.
To help analyze your web pages speeds, click here.
7. Cohesive Branding and Design
Whether or not you’re designing your brand’s website, you should ensure cohesion when it comes to its style and look. This is also commonly referred to as having a “branding kit”, complete with specific fonts, colors, and general design guidelines.
Keep your style modern, clear and simple, and an immediate indicator of your brand’s “style”. Something as simple as a font does leave an impression with your customer, so choose with intention. Once you’ve created your brand kit, be sure to use these across all your pages, both on your website as well as your social media. Cohesion brings clarity.
Should you want help with curating a brand kit and identity, here’s our top recommendation of a company that can help.
8. Links to Social Media Pages
This brings us to your brand’s social media presence. Social media is a driving force for not only brand awareness, but also for sales! Adding to this, having a social media presence boosts your credibility with consumers and allows for more immediate engagement. In short, if you have a website, you should also have a social media presence. So be sure to provide clear links to your social platform pages, and begin connecting, all while boosting your SEO.
9. FAQs
Having an FAQs page (frequently asked questions) not only streamlines your consumer’s journey but also saves you time in future client conversations. Include your most popular and general questions on these, hopefully resolving any hesitations your customer may have about reaching out. Don’t be afraid to add humor in your answers, and show your personality when applicable! But as always, keep it simple and clear–again, solving your customer’s problems.
10. Keep it Mobile-Friendly!
According to Statista, in 2023 smartphones accounted for 72% of retail site visits, and generated 61% of all online shopping purchases. So make sure you keep your website both desktop as well as mobile-friendly, so as to not lose your viewers’ interest.
Most web design platforms include both viewing styles, so you can check to see how your design might look on a smartphone vs. a desktop. Be on the lookout for font size, pictures and videos getting cut off, or any other abnormalities that may turn you off as a visitor. And if you’re hiring someone else to design your website for you, be sure you let them know to keep it mobile-friendly.
If you follow these guidelines, you’ll not only have a solid website but also a clearly defined, strong brand identity.