Websites are no longer exclusively meant for large or mid-sized businesses to market their product or services. Small business owners are also increasingly building websites to increase their lead generation and reach. However, they need to follow certain best practices so that their websites serve this purpose. This blog will discuss 7 tips for small business owners for creating a simple and effective web design.
Creating a website is no longer difficult with the availability of various web creation tools like Wix, Squarespace or WordPress. You need not know anything about HTML or JavaScript to build a website using them.
These tools can be handy for small businesses that may not have the funds to outsource their web design requirement. However, they should follow some best practices for effective web design.
So, let’s go through 7 tips for a good web design for small business owners.
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7 Tips for Simple & Effective Web Design for Small Business Owners
We look at seven simple but effective web design tips for small business owners who are just starting or have already been in business for a few years. These tips can help them build a robust website to ramp up their business.
1. Keep it Simple & Unique
Your website will promote your brand and should reflect your values and beliefs. It will also create a first impression when potential customers visit your business. So, you should not use an often-used template available on free website builders. This may not go down well with your potential customers.
The Home Page is the most essential part of any business website, as visitors will most likely see that page when they visit your website. Small businesses do not have more than 10-12 web pages on their website. As a result, the homepage becomes an important anchor for your website. So it becomes all the more important that it clearly answers questions like who you are and what you do.
This cannot be done effectively by ready-made templates available free of cost on popular website builders.
2. Keep a Watch on Site Load Time
Website visitors do not like waiting more than 2-3 seconds for any website to load. If it takes more time, they will just move on and visit a competitor’s website. If your website has many images and/or videos, you need to ensure you have the hardware infrastructure to support it.
This is needed if you wish to have a large customer base, which means there will be a good amount of traffic to your website at any given time. It has also been noticed that the amount of time taken to load a website also affects the purchase decision of nearly 70% of shoppers.
3. Build a Mobile Responsive Website
Websites are accessed more via mobile devices rather than desktops or laptops. As a result, it becomes essential to make your website mobile responsive so that you do not lose out on traffic coming from mobile devices.
If your target audience lands on your site but doesn’t find it easy to navigate, they may never return and go to your competitor’s website. If your visitors have a negative experience, it will also impact your search engine rankings. As your rank goes down, it will be difficult for users to find you through Google search.
4. Have Easy Navigation
Web design experts recommend limiting your top-level navigation menu to five clearly defined tabs with related pages put under them. A visitor should never get lost on your website. There should always be a tab to go back to the home page.
In most Google search results, the visitor lands on a webpage other than the home page. Hence, there should be a Home page tab at the top or bottom of each webpage.
It is well known that people scan web pages from top to bottom or left to right. Put your navigation menu at the top of your webpage and use drop-down menus under each main menu.
5. Provide Valuable Content
You probably would have heard the phrase, “Content is the King.” Most search engines index sites based on quality of content and backlinks. The more quality content on your website, the higher your rank on search engines.
Visitors will also pay attention to quality content, which keeps them engrossed. However, not many people like to read a lot of text and would rather like infographics, images, and videos. Headlines are also a very important part of the content as they draw the attention of your visitors.
Another important thing to keep in mind is to keep the content updated and fresh. This is needed both for visitors and search engines.
Advanced Tip: Study the content of your competitors’ websites, especially those who have been in the industry longer than you. Observe how they present their products/services to their customers or potential customers.
6. Don’t Forget SEO & SEM
Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is a bunch of techniques that can be used to improve the ranking of your website on search engines.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a process of promoting and advertising, which is done to improve the rank of a company’s content on search engines.
As a small business owner who might have just started his/her journey, it is very easy to ignore SEO/SEM, thinking that it is only for big or established companies.
However, if done correctly, SEO/SEM can improve your search engine rankings and generate a lot of traffic, leads, conversions, and sales.
7. Always Have CTA
CTA stands for Call to Action, and it is executed by a tab or button, having some text, for example, “Click to Subscribe newsletter” or “Click to Purchase.”
Each of your web pages should entice the visitor to do something that will help your business in one way or another.
If you are able to get email IDs of potential customers through CTA, you can send them newsletters with information about newly launched products/services. You can also offer a free trial of your service for a month via CTA, and if they like it, they will sign up for paid service.
Wrapping Up
Now it’s time to wrap up our blog on simple and effective web design tips for small business owners. The internet has provided a level playing field for businesses of all sizes, allowing small businesses to grow and compete with giants.
You just have to follow these tips when you build or rebuild your website, and results will soon follow. Websites are one of the platforms for Digital Marketing and provide a very high ROI if done correctly. Grow your business big!
For your Web Design & Development needs, you can get in touch with Ace Web Experts.
FAQs
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ensures that your website is easily discoverable by search engines, which can increase organic traffic. Incorporate SEO best practices like keyword optimization, meta tags, alt text for images, and clean URLs into your web design.
It’s advisable to update your website design every 2-3 years to keep it fresh and in line with current trends and technologies. Regular updates also help to improve user experience and maintain security.
Effective CTAs include:
“Sign up for our newsletter”
“Get a free quote”
“Contact us today”
“Buy now”
“Learn more”
“Schedule a consultation”
It depends on your budget and needs. Website builders are cost-effective and easy to use for basic designs. However, for a more customized, professional, and scalable website, hiring a web designer is a better option.
To make your website user-friendly: Keep the design simple and intuitive, Use clear and concise language, Ensure easy navigation, Provide a search function, Optimize for accessibility, including screen reader compatibility and keyboard navigation.
To improve loading speed: Optimize images by compressing them, Minimize the use of heavy scripts and plugins, Use a reliable hosting provider, Enable browser caching, Implement a content delivery network (CDN).