In the digital age, the internet and innovative tech have huge profit potential. In fact, by 2035, the highly-anticipated 5G is expected to pump $17 trillion into the global economy.
But even at this point, over a third of small businesses don’t have websites yet.
These companies won’t only miss revenue opportunities but also face tougher competition. You don’t want your business to deal with that, do you?
No matter your industry, your business should harness the power of the internet — and in this case, a website. It’s one of the most effective platforms to promote your business, attract customers, and drive sales.
To start, here are eight elements your business website must have:
A homepage
Your homepage is the first thing your audience sees when visiting your website.
Just like how we judge a book by its cover, people will judge your website by its homepage. And if they like what they see, they’ll be prompted to explore further.
READ: 5 Benefits of Hiring a Reputable Web Design Agency for Your Biz
Impress your audience with the following:
- Navigation menu. Make it easy for your visitors to explore your website. Add in buttons or links that lead to your main pages, such as About, Products/Services, Contact, etc. These buttons/links should not exceed five. If you have a lot of pages, make use of dropdown menus.
- An About paragraph. Give a brief description of what your business is about.
- Your products/services. Provide a glimpse of your offering by showing your best sellers, must-buys, or something along those lines.
- Customer testimonials. Boost your business’s credibility by using customer feedback. Make sure to use positive testimonials from actual customers and avoid crafting fake ones.
- Footer. Add in your contact information, links to your Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, links to other relevant pages, and other important information.
- A call-to-action button. Nudge your audience to action! We’ll get to this in a bit.
An About page
Before people transact with a business, they’d want to get to know them first.
This is why the About page is one of the most visited webpages — and why it’s a mistake not to create one for your website.
Take this opportunity to cultivate their interest deeper. Narrate your story. How did you come about? Why did you decide to open your business? What are your vision, mission, and goals as a company?
Most of all, talk about your audience.
We know it’s a bit ironic to talk about someone else in a page that’s supposed to be about you. But the thing is this: people visit your website because they want to know what you can do for them.
Answer it by addressing your audience’s pain points and aspirations. Let them feel you have them in mind, and that you intend to solve it through your offering.
That’s guaranteed to amp up their interest by a lot of notches.
A Products/Services page
Of course, you’re creating a website with the intention to sell. So, displaying your products or services — whichever you offer — is a no-brainer.
Give a short description, prices, and details on how to purchase them. If your offering is vast, consider arranging them by category. Create also a landing page for each product/service, where you can provide further information.
A blog
A blog is an affordable and effective marketing tool. Use this chance to share your expertise, build customer relationships, and establish authority.
To create a blog that attracts a loyal readership, provide relevant, valuable, and reliable content. Achieve that by going for evergreen content, maintaining a content calendar, leveraging influencers and social media, and many more.
Contact page
Ideally, your business website should provide everything your audience needs to know. But we can’t avoid cases when they want to know more.
With this, they should be able to contact you and inquire.
Begin with a Contact page. Add in your email address, phone numbers, location, and a submission box for inquiries. Put a link towards your Contact page on your site header and footer.
For easier access, you may add your contact information also in your site footer.
In the end, you want to give your users as many opportunities as possible to reach out to you.
A call-to-action
So your audience has already read all about you and what you offer. Now what?
Tell them what to do with a clear, assertive call to action (CTA).
Your CTA can be anything. Offer a free trial, let them call you for a quote, provide discount coupons — whatever works for you.
But if you’re lost, here are some starting points:
1) Use strong action words
You don’t have that much space for your CTA, so be direct and tell them the desired action
- Selling products? Use words like “Buy”, “Order” or “Shop.”
- Want them to seek for more info? Go with “Learn more”, “Call us”, or “Find out”.
- Offering an ebook or newsletter? Start with “Download” or “Subscribe”.
2) Be enthusiastic
Get them excited! After all, doing business with you is an exciting venture, isn’t it?
Even the simple act of adding an exclamation point to your CTA — say “Buy now!” — can already elicit excitement from your audience. To take it further, give a benefit they can’t pass on, such as discounts. For example, “Buy now and get 25% off!”
3) Create a sense of urgency
We’re all familiar with FOMO — or the Fear of Missing Out. People tend to jump on the bandwagon, as they don’t want to miss out on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
Let this energy emanate from your CTA. Go with the lines of “For a limited time only”, “Promo ends on Sunday”, or “While stocks last”.
4) Make it visible
We recommend placing your CTA in the top fold of your homepage and above the footer in all of your pages. This gives it maximum visibility, which means more chances for your audience to click it.
Establish your online presence now
There’s never been a more perfect time to get a website for your business.
Of course, nobody expects a small business website to compete with Facebook or Google. But in the end, make it your goal to attract customers, answer questions, and encourage engagement.
As long as yours is functional, informative, and easy to use, your website to bring you business success in no time.
