E-commerce has taken the business world by storm, with many retailers now getting the majority of their sales online. The “front door” of a business’s online presence is its website.
Despite this, many companies haven’t upgraded their websites in years. The result is that buyers get into the site, notice the design and promptly leave. A website that hasn’t had an update in as little as five years shows its age.
If a business wants to compete with others, it needs to make its first impression on the customer a memorable one. To help, 13 members of Forbes Agency Council suggest a few simple changes that a business can make to its website to make a positive impact and increase the appeal of its brand to potential customers.
Members offer a few simple website tweaks that can make your page more appealing to customers.
Photos courtesy of the individual members
1. Create A Welcoming Experience
If a business’s website is the front door, you should make sure to put out a welcome mat. If a potential customer’s first visit to the site is an inviting experience, they will actually seek out those further interactions with your brand. Some ways to make the visit welcoming include putting the important information right up front, offering easy navigation, and writing with care. – Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
2. Keep It Simple
Too many websites have too many clicks before people can find whatever they are seeking. It boggles my mind how many sites seem to be hiding their address (for physical businesses) as well as customer service numbers. If a potential client has to search to find a phone number, claims of excellent customer service seem incongruent. – Dian Griesel, Dian Griesel International & Silver Disobedience Inc.
3. Post Smart, Personalized Content
Depending on your customer relationship management tool, I’ve seen use cases where the website is personalized based on past visit history, purchase history or personal info that the company knows about you. You no longer have to be an Amazon-like company to utilize these personalized tactics. – Dustin DeTorres, DeTorres Group
4. Use Less Copy
These days, powerful websites have limited copy and impactful visuals. Make sure the visuals match the brand, and only use words that you can’t live without. Too much copy will overwhelm your customers. Make sure it is clear where and how they can contact you without having to go through too many menus! – Michelle Mekky, Mekky Media Relations, Inc.
5. Focus On The Story
Many websites and brand positions focus on what a company does, not how they impact their client. While usability and simplicity are essential on the web, it’s the simplicity of the message and content that many people miss. Creating a valuable web presence is necessary, but it is critical that the audience quickly understand how the product or service is going to make their lives better. – Bo Bothe, BrandExtract, LLC
6. Be Vulnerable, Be Human
Gone are the days of overly polished stock photography performing well. Your customers want to buy from you, not from a faceless company. Use real, relatable images. Have quotes. Highlight employees. Showcase your personality. After all, that’s what makes you unique from the competition. – Damon Burton, SEO National
7. Lead With Benefits
We improve websites and marketing with our services, and the biggest thing I see companies fail at is leading with how great their company is instead of how much the product will benefit the consumer. Remember that nobody cares about features but rather about what those features will do to benefit your customer. – Justin Christianson, Conversion Fanatics
8. Allow Visitors To Choose Their Journey
In order to create a meaningful journey on your website, you should allow visitors to choose their journey. This could be based on their buyer persona, the product or service they want to learn more about, or their life cycle stage. By allowing them to self-select this on your home page and throughout the site, you can deliver them the most helpful content to move them through the buyer’s journey. – Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
9. Give Them What They Want
When we look at developing new sites for our customers we make sure to identify the important pages and actions the client wants from their visitors. You don’t want to bury relevant information in a navigation menu — instead give little teasers to guide the user to the right pages. – Blake George, BMG Media Co.
10. Try To Give Back Time
The art of a home page is really something that hasn’t changed. Trends come and go, but what is still required for brands is finding ways to give them back time. For websites, that means ensuring that we really understand the user journeys and can get people to the right piece of content in as few steps as possible. If you can give a few minutes back to your guests every day, you win and they win. – Jackson Murphy, Pound & Grain
11. Take Calculated Risks
Too often, businesses try to appeal to a mass audience versus focusing on the true target audience. You only have a few seconds to make a first impression so you need to clearly differentiate yourself. Lead with a hard-hitting, provocative question, or with a powerful statement that shows you really understand the challenges and opportunities. Create a sense of intrigue so they are hungry for more. – Matt Berry, Conversion Agile Marketing
12. Optimize For Voice Search
More and more users are navigating the internet through voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, and businesses will have to adjust their content and search engine optimization efforts in order to rank competitively. Think in terms of long-tail, conversational keywords that mimic natural speech patterns, such as “best vegan bakery in San Francisco” instead of “bakery San Francisco vegan.” – Adam Binder, Creative Click Media
13. Use A Mobile-First Approach
Most web browsing is now on a mobile device. Today’s mobile buyers are doing everything, from product research to looking for contact information. If your website isn’t optimized for them, you’re making it harder for visitors to find what they need in order to convert to a sale or opportunity. Many website platforms like WordPress now make it easy to implement mobile versions. – David Ward, Meticulosity
