How to Build a Killer Small Business Website
Melanie Lindner
Oftentimes, a website is the first way a potential client will look at you, even if it is only to access your basic contact information. The quality of your website reflects the quality of your business in a viewer’s eyes. If possible, it is a good idea to buy a few variations of domain names that are close to yours, in addition to your actual domain. The most important part to having a successful website is understanding what does and doesn’t work. While one drop down menu may work just fine, menus within menus clutter up the screen and can become frustrating for a user. It’s also important to keep in mind that computer screens are wider than they are tall, so using horizontal navigation rather than vertical navigation is suited better for this type of technology (it would be opposite for most phone and mobile devices, since they are taller than they are wide). Having a website isn’t solely about putting your company’s name out there, but also about establishing credibility with interested customers. Include on your website compelling backgrounds on your company’s leaders, along with their accomplishments and personalized photographs. Customer testimonials are also a great thing to put on your website, as long as they are done in the right way and give good information on how you solved their problem. Graphics might draw readers in, but can confuse search engines. Use graphics sparingly and only go for the highest quality. Even if you have an impeccable website, it won’t do any good if no one can find it—which is where SEO comes in. The key to SEO is choosing 50 to 100 key words that are most relevant to your products, services and target audience; the more frequently those words appear on your website, the earlier your website will come up when searched. Google AdWords is a free service that allows you to type in a main word for your business and it will give you a list of keywords and phrases that are commonly searched in that category. Key words can relate to your location as well if you are a small professional-services business that really depends on being known locally. Web Trax is a software program that tracks clicks and allows you to see which areas of your website are being accessed and which are being ignored. Besides a website, getting your business on local business directories is helpful to get traffic for your business (Google has a free one, Local Business Center, as well as sites like yelp.com, insiderpages.com, and Best of the Web).
Lindner, Melanie. "How To Build A Killer Small Business Web Site." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 23 Sept. 2008. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Link to original article: http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/23/small-office-website-ent-tech-cx_ml_0923websitedesign.html
Lindner, Melanie. "How To Build A Killer Small Business Web Site." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 23 Sept. 2008. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Link to original article: http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/23/small-office-website-ent-tech-cx_ml_0923websitedesign.html