A website is the showcase of your company. This is the most important element in building a positive relationship between you and your customers. A good, readable website is the first step to a thriving business.
The main benefits of having a website are:
An easy way to contact you – the customer can find information about your business and contact information at any time of day or night, at their convenience.
Builds your credibility – the customer can find out who you are, find out your references, and read positive feedback about your services.
It expands your customer base – today, everyone is looking for everything online. If you do not have a website, you “lose” many additional transactions.
You save time for you and your customers – instead of having a long conversation about what your company offers and what it does, the customer finds the information he is interested in on his own.
However, just having a website is not enough. It is essential that it is easy to use, readable, understandable and contains 9 important elements. What elements? Here are the following.
Domain – that is, simply the Internet address of your website.
What is important when choosing a domain for your business?:
Easy for your customers to remember
Consistency with the name of your company
Most often, the domain simply contains the company name. This is good in that there are no additional names entered that could give the customer a feeling of uncertainty and inconsistency with its message.
If your name is too long to use it as a domain, then see if, for example, the first part of the name or the most expressive part could be used. Wydawnictwo Life on LINE used this in a very nice way. Their domain is short, easy to remember, and is line.me.
Where to find your perfect domain? Here are some sample websites:
https://www.bluehost.com/
https://uk.godaddy.com/tlds/co-uk-domain
https://www.hostgator.com/
You may also look at some cloud hosting options.
And how to connect a domain to a website built in the Calendesk wizard?
In the article Website – setting your custom domain you will find simple step-by-step instructions.
An important point – when purchasing a domain, compare the prices from different suppliers. The cost of buying the same domain may be completely different for each of them. The first year of using a specific address is often very cheap. Therefore, be sure to check how much it will cost you to renew your domain after one year.
Remember – simplicity and consistency with your company name are crucial here.
Home page – this is actually the first message the user sees. Here you tell clearly what kind of business you run. If it is a massage parlor, you write it is a professional parlor for relaxation, sports or face massages. If it is a hairdressing salon, you invite people to cut their hair, dye it and all other related services.
The main point of the home page is that the customer knows after a few seconds what the website is about and whether this is what he or she is looking for. That is why it is very important here (and on each subpage in fact) that the headlines are well constructed. We describe specific techniques for creating interesting and engaging headlines here (link to the article on headlines). An important thing that is worth mentioning here is that
the ideal length of the headlines is 11 words and 65 characters (from the BuzzSumo report https://buzzsumo.com/resources/hundred-million-best-headlines-study/view/).
Entering numbers in the headlines will attract a user’s attention
a headline in the form of a question intrigues and forces the user to think, and therefore is a moment longer on your website
using citations in headlines is a good variation of the headline and inspires confidence.
If you’re out of inspiration and have absolutely no idea for a headline, you can use a headline generator. It is not an excellent solution, but it is great for inspiration and brainstorming with oneself.
An example headline generator – https://www.title-generator.com/.
Remember – the message on the home page must be specific and clear about what you do and what kind of services you offer.
Logotype – make sure it is clearly visible. The idea is to get your customers to “code” your logotype. So, whenever they see it, whether it’s on advertising, social media or anywhere else, they’ll immediately link the logotype with your company.
Why is it important to remember the logotype? Imagine a situation in which you have two products in front of you – one brand you’ve seen often as a logotype, the other brand you’ve never seen before. Without Internet access, where can you check the information about the second brand or if you are simply in a hurry, which product will you choose? It is highly likely that the brand you know. So, make sure that as many people as possible remember your company logo.
If you do not have a logo and you do not want to hire a professional graphic designer due to the high cost, it is quite easy to create a logo yourself. Here are a few logo creators (some of them, to download a logo, you have to pay a small amount compared to hiring a professional), as well as some other graphic design tools.
https://www.tailorbrands.com/
https://www.logaster.com/
Finished sets with visual identification:
https://creativemarket.com/StationSeven/1193603-Ladypreneur-Branding-Kit
https://creativemarket.com/laramai/1192875-Pretty-Premade-Branding-Logo-Kit
https://designbundles.net/bilberry-create/28941-watercolor-logo-kit-8-fonts
Remember – when choosing the color scheme for your website, make sure the font is clearly visible, that’s for sure, but it’s also important that the logotype is clear and doesn’t blend into the background.
About Us tab – a very important element in building trust in you and your business. Anyone who uses any service wants to know who provides it and why they should trust that person.
If you run a restaurant, introduce your entire staff and write a few words about each person. What the person does at work and what he or she is responsible for (for example, restaurant supply orders). As an interesting fact, add information about what hobbies they have. If you’re running a massage parlor – the same thing, tell who is performing massages in your parlor. Write why you are sure everyone who leaves your parlor will be relaxed.
At this stage, it is worth adding photos. Portraits of the staff, the interior of your premises. Make sure your photos are sharp, clear and well-lit. Dark, blurred images will appear gloomy and unprofessional, and will discourage visitors rather than attract crowds. Photos are the perfect element to highlight all the advantages and strengths of your business and its surroundings. If you run a spa surrounded by greenery, showcase that greenery. Let website users know that they will fully relax. If your customers are offered coffee, tea, water while waiting in the waiting room, show it in the photo. Let them see that they will find a cozy atmosphere with you and that they will be taken care of and hosted.
Even better if you have video content because this form is always of great interest and attracts attention. You can record a tour of your premises, show your team from behind the scenes and record a compilation of funny situations. Also good are tips, tutorials and video testimonials, i.e. opinions expressed by your existing customers. This is a turbo-charged way for the user to trust you.
Remember – photos and videos where people are visible always create greater trust. On materials from inside a restaurant, show the room filled with guests. For beauty salon materials, show patients smiling during treatments.
Contact – it is very important that the potential customer has the opportunity to contact you tailored to his needs. Not everyone wants to call immediately, they prefer to write an email, so enter the email address to which they can send a message. Someone else in turn likes to get things done right away, so they’ll be more likely to use the phone. Please provide your exact address so that each user of the website can see how far your location is from their home or workplace.
If you run a beauty salon, a hairdresser, or any other services that require a visit, create a booking system on your website. You can easily connect it with your Google Calendar (step-by-step instructions, how to do it are here https://calendesk.com/help/article/add-ons-google-calendar/). Then a customer who chooses to make an appointment even without prior contact can choose the most convenient date and time and then book it. The notification system will remind the person of the appointment well in advance. Adding this possibility to the website is a great way to increase the customer’s satisfaction of contact with you.
Remember – give your potential customers as many different forms of contact as possible so that anyone can choose something perfect for themselves.
Responsiveness – a website that automatically adapts to mobile devices. Today, without such a function, there is no question of a good website. The overwhelming majority of visits to websites are made via smartphones and tablets.
It is therefore extremely important that your company website adapts to each type of device. If a customer enters your website on a smartphone and it displays a desktop version, it is more than certain that they will exit quickly. The desktop website often looks like a number of micro-letters and elements that are very difficult to click when you display on your smartphone. Avoid it at all costs.
Remember – when creating a website, always test it yourself on your mobile device. See if it is comfortable and enjoyable to use. Without that, you won’t know if there is anything you can improve even further.
Social media – from this tab, link your Facebook fanpage and Instagram account. It is also worth encouraging users to like your accounts. For example, this could be a 5% discount on your services on the first visit for each of your fans or followers. Why is this important? Well, your fans/observers will be constantly kept up to date when it comes to news from your company, promotions, competitions, etc. You do not have to pay extra for your message to get through, because you use organic traffic.
Remember – social media allows you to stay in touch with your customers and to acquire new ones.
FAQ – a section with the most common questions and answers you receive from your customers. This saves you and the user’s time because they do not have to call you or wait for an email to answer their question.
How do I do this?:
Remind yourself what questions customers ask you most often, talk to your team about this and ask about their experiences.
List all the questions that should appear on the website and group them into categories.
Add to the list issues that customers do not ask about, but generate a lot of confusion and disorientation during a visit (e.g. you know that before the first visit the client will have to fill out a questionnaire, so it is worth to be at least 15 minutes before the scheduled time).
Write them in first person on the website, i.e. from the customer’s perspective, e.g. “Should I come to the salon earlier before my first visit?”.
Under each question, make your answer as specific and short as possible.
Update the section regularly as soon as new questions or problems arise.
Remember – do not create long responses in the FAQ section. The user wants a clear and factual answer.
Opinions – a very important section for building trust and a positive image of your company. Almost 100% of this subpage will be read from top to bottom by the user interested in your services. Opinions act as references, based on which a potential customer judges whether you are a professional and whether they can trust you.
How do I do this?
You can ask your customers by email to share their experiences with you when they use your services.
You can ask your customers to complete a short survey after the visit with a few simple questions about the service and the quality.
You can ask customers if they agree to say a few words about your services in short videos with them on your website.
Probably not everyone will have time and will want to reply to an email, take a survey or share their image. Therefore, it is worth using an additional incentive in the form of a discount on the next visit, a free gadget or another surprise.
Remember – always make sure before using someone’s opinion on your website that the author has nothing against it.
Creating your company website is an important but enjoyable moment of building your business image. The careful development and preparation of each of the above elements will give you a lot of satisfaction, and in addition, will help to organize the vision of your company. This is a very important step.
