4 website must-haves to bring your business into the new decade

For many large corporations that have plenty of resources, designing a website that’s in line with the latest best practices is pretty much a walk in the park.

On the other hand, small and medium-sized businesses don’t necessarily have large budgets or access to experts to let them get the job done as effectively.

This poses a problem especially when you consider that many SMEs have to rely on a great website to boost their image and drive sales. However, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: good websites don’t have to be expensive to be effective. All it takes is making good decisions and possessing a discerning eye to ensure that your website is serving your interests.

In this article, we’ll walk you through some practical website-building tips to get you inspired. Most of the suggestions listed below won’t cost you much—if at all—and they’re easy to implement and incorporate into any type of website.

1. Make it personal

Have you ever come across a website that addresses you by your name? It probably made you feel like you were being acknowledged personally and chances are it will have the same effect on others.

This is simple enough to implement provided you have the right tools to gather information about your visitors. If you have a login feature or some other type of account database, just add a personal greeting to welcome your visitors individually.

2. Use consistent branding

Brand image is more important than ever before. With fierce competition, you need to make it clear what it is your business stands for and how that differs from your competitors.

Think about your brand and the message and feelings you want to deliver, then adopt a similar frame of mind when creating all your content. By your content, we mean everything! Your logo, your imagery, your tone—all of it has to come together to ensure that your branding stays strong and highly visible.

3. Introduce a blog

Blogs aren’t a new thing by any means but they’re more relevant now than ever before. This is because organic content continues to be a huge factor that search engines take into consideration when ranking websites.

A blog can also be a great way to inform your audience and sway their purchasing decisions in your favour. Plus, a blog allows you to make content that is inherently shareable on the Internet, which is a huge advantage in itself.

4. Link to your social media profiles

This assumes that you have a social media presence to begin with. If you don’t, then you need to get on that right away. Social media is free to use and popular platforms such as Instagram yield excellent results in terms of connecting with your audience.

Once your social media pages are set up, make sure you link your website to your social media pages through the use of strategically placed icons. Make them highly visible so that your visitors don’t miss them. You might even encourage them to follow your accounts, thereby increasing your brand’s exposure to them even further.

Conclusion

As you can see, a good website that will serve your SME well is never far from reach. Take advantage of the tools available, be thoughtful about your content and design and prioritise your customers’ needs above all else.

We are a web design agency with offices in Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes. We build beautiful websites that are easy to use and simple to manage. If you need help designing your website, get in touch with us today on 0800 690 6250.