5 Essential Features of a Robust Website Design for a Small Business

A website is the fastest way for your business to gain publicity. It is the first point of contact with customers who look up your business on the internet. Even if you run a brick-and-mortar shop, having an online presence will encourage sales. 

If you want customers to spend time on your website and perform desired actions, your website design needs to be simple, navigable, and aesthetically pleasing. 

Today, building a website does not demand professional developers. You can start your website easily with a tool like WordPress but make sure it has the following vital elements:

Updated SEO Practices

Making SEO-friendly choices for your website will help you rank better on search engines. Yes, the process is slow, but the rewards are organic and impressive. There are a few ways you can ensure that your site is SEO-friendly.

Using long-tail keywords with decent search volumes, creating relevant content, enabling high load speeds (less than 6 seconds), and optimizing meta descriptions are some of the ways you can increase your website visibility.

Use tools like Google Analytics to obtain essential website data and make impactful changes so customers can reach you easily. You can determine bounce rates, which locality your visitors are coming from, through which medium (social media, search, etc.), and which web page brings the most traffic.

Prominent Call-to-Action

You need to display the end outcome in bold. Whether it is a ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Sign Up’ button, it distinctly shows your visitors what the next step is. 

Without a call-to-action (CTA) button, visitors will leave your page not carrying out the desired action because they waste time searching for it. Therefore a weak CTA will lead to no conversions.

Don’t forget to define your CTAs first, as there can be many types, not just a purchase, which is most likely the last action required by a customer.  

Mobile-friendly Navigation

Close to 60% of visitors use their mobile devices to view websites. That is a majority of your users, and if you do not optimize your website design for them, you will eventually lose them. 

Make sure you have a flexible layout that fits into a mobile screen when accessed through that device. Forcing your users to zoom in and out of the screen would lead to them exiting the page in no time. 

Sign-up Form

If you are a new business, your priority is to build your audience. A sign-up form will help you collect the contact information of visitors so that you can communicate with them through newsletters or messages. Keep the sign-up form as simple as possible, so your visitors do not hesitate to spend time on it. 

A simple email and name template will also be enough information to work with. Reward-based forms have shown better results because your visitors feel like it’s a fair exchange. Offer your visitors a promotional discount or a free download if they sign up to your website. 

Aesthetics

Attractive visuals are an essential element of any website design. Use pleasant colours and a contrasting theme so that the information is easy to consume. Also, give importance to your font style and size. Don’t go overboard and pick fonts that your users will have to squint to read. A simple font at a readable size is what works best.

Break up your content with relevant visuals that add meaning to your website. Display your product and its benefits in the form of pictures so that your visitors can retain information better and not get disinterested with too many words.

Providing a smooth experience for your visitors affects your revenue significantly. Consider your website as your brand’s ambassador and ensure that it gives life to your business. Give your customers a whole new experience with your optimized website.