Today, websites are more important for small businesses than ever before.? Anyone can set-up a ?professional website affordably these days.?However, simply having a website is not enough to get the desired results. The design and functionality of your website play a significant part in the success of your business on the Internet.
There are several ways to improve the performance of your website. Although increasing traffic to your website is an effective way to boost your website performance, SEO is a resource intensive process where the ROI can take time to become noticeable.
In the short term, refining your website can offer a far more cost effective way to improve the performance of your business online. Simple changes and updates to your website can have a dramatic impact on your performance and boost your ROI.
In this article, we take a look at eleven easy but highly effective ways to boost your website performance.
1. ?Display Full Contact Details
Displaying contact details on your website is vital for any business. It is one of the simplest ways to improve the performance of your small business website.
According to a report by VSplash, ?six out of ten small business websites in the U.S. do not have a telephone number on the home page.? It is highly recommended to display your telephone number in the header of your website so it is clearly visible on all pages.
Many small businesses also make the mistake of not including full address on the website and only listing their email. Displaying full contact details including your address adds trust and credibility for your business. It instils confidence in your customers who are more likely to avail of your products.? If you want your business to succeed and your website to get the desired results, make sure you do not make this mistake.
2. ?Create Quality Content Targeting Your Audience
For many years, marketing experts all over the world have been highlighting the importance of producing quality content on your website . In spite of this it is easily overlooked, particularly by small businesses. Updating your website frequently with quality content improves your search engine rank and drives more? traffic to your website. It is also one of the most effective ways to drive qualified leads for your business.
Offering industry news on your website, adding a blog, publishing reports and white papers are just some ways to do this.
3. Use Good Call To Action to Boost Conversions
Using effective call to action techniques is one the most effective ways to boost your conversion rates and acquire new customers on your website. Including well thought of call to action elements is a great way to boost the performance of your website. Plan your calls to action carefully.? For best results, measure the results and refine continuously. For best results, use well designed calls to action and display them prominently on all pages of your website,? not just your homepage.
Here are some tips to consider:
- Use multiple placement to get more attention
- Use well designed call to action buttons
- Place them prominently above the fold
- Include call to action on all pages
- Use split testing to test alternatives
4. Take Advantage of Lead Capture Forms
It is much easier to improve your conversion rate than it is to improve your search engine rank. Assuming your website receives some traffic, taking steps to improve conversions can be easier and produce a faster ROI than improving your search engine rank or increasing traffic to your website. This is where lead capture forms can help. Effective lead capture forms offer an easy and effective way for small businesses to improve website performance.?
Here are some tips to consider:
- Use well designed lead capture forms.
- Keep form fields to a minimum for improved conversions.
- incentivize lead generation e.g. offer a free eBook to those who sign-up to your email list.
- Place your forms prominently, preferably above the fold.
5. ?Use Media Throughout Your Content
A majority of small businesses I come across every day have failed to realise the full benefits of media for the benefit of the business. Media including images, videos, podcasts, slide presentations, and more are very popular online and get far more coverage for your business that standard text based content.
Include at least one relevant image on each page and within every content that is produced as part of your marketing efforts. Try to avoid stock images as far as possible. Use relevant images that supports your content only. Produce and distribute infographics relevant to your niche.?
6. Leverage Videos
Videos are very popular on the Internet and can be a very valuable asset for promoting your business online. Producing and distributing video content can increase the reach and boost to your Internet marketing strategy. But there is much more to it that just creating and publishing your own videos and there are other ways for your business to realize the full potential of video marketing.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
- Publish videos on several video sites e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, Metcafe
- Embed relevant videos in your content.
- Be active and engage with others on YouTube. Share, vote and comment on videos of other users.
- Don`t overlook videos on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and more
- Use videos for your products and services
- Record video tutorials and webinars
7. ?Build Trust In Your Business
Trust and confidence in the business is vital if your want your website to achieve the desired results. This is what sets successful businesses apart from others. ?Take steps to? make your business trustworthy for customers. Users also want to know that there are others who are using your services and benefiting from it.
Displaying quotes or testimonials from satisfied customers is a great way to do this. You can also consider integrating reviews from popular third-party review site like Yelp. Adding a dedicated clients page, displaying accreditation, displaying social following are some other ways to do this effectively.
8. Add a Face to Your Business
Potential customers want to see that there is real business with real people behind your business. Display headshot in your social profiles rather than logo. Display photos and introduction of staff on your website. Use human names as your pen name instead of company or other generic names in the author byline of all articles, blog posts and other content you produce.
9. ?Take Advantage of Landing Pages
A Landing page, also known as a ?lead capture page or sales page,? is designed specifically to convert casual website visitors into sales leads for your business. They are displayed when a user clicks on a search engine listing, link, banner or another online advertisement for a product or service. The elements of effective landing pages are different to regular web pages. Instead of directing users to your homepage in every promotion, redirect them to customized landing pages instead. This is a very effective way to get more leads and improve your sales.
10. ?Display Consistent Branding
It is vital for businesses to use consistent branding throughout the website as well as on all external sites, social media profiles and other web properties owned or used by the business as part of marketing efforts. Use of consistent theme and branding helps to create a visual identity for the business and reinforce the brand. It promotes brand recognition which can be very valuable and priceless for small businesses.
Here are some branding tips:
- Try to secure the .com, .org and .net domains in addition to your relevant country TLD
- Use the same user name and custom URL format on all social media sites your business uses
- Use consistent theme and branding on all social media sites and other web properties
Take a look at the consistent branding displayed on Facebook and Google Plus below by Noble Infosys, the London based Design & Internet marketing Agency.
Google Plus Page for Noble Infosys:
Facebook Page for Noble Infosys:
The Facebook page below displays a consistent look and feel as ?the company?s Google plus page above.
11. Monitor and Refine
Good monitoring is vital to ensure the methods you are using are producing desired results and are helping your business. It also helps to identify new opportunities, areas for improvement, and offers an insight into valuable customer behavior. It is also the only way to keep a close watch to sudden changes to your online presence that can be detrimental for business. This in turn enables you take the steps necessary to respond in a timely and effective manner.
Your online strategy should be fluid and evolve constantly. Monitoring various aspects of your online presence is only half the battle. The real benefits will depend on your ability to respond promptly and refine your strategy based on the results.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
- Use Google Analytics and look at your stats daily
- Monitor your social profiles constantly
- Monitor trending topics and brand mentions using social monitoring tools
- Monitor and respond promptly to changes in your profiles and search rankings, customer reviews, and comments.
- Take advantage of free tools such as HootSuite, Google Reader, Google Alerts, and other free tools
- Keep a close watch on your online influence using services like Klout
Conclusion
Small businesses use several methods to improve online performance. While strategies like SEO offer an effective way to boost the performance of your small business website, these methods readier significant effort and resources to achieve.? Tweaking your website and making it more effective can offer a far more cost effective way to get more from your website and improving the performance of your small business.
What About You?
What techniques do you use to improve the performance of your website? Are you taking advantage of the methods above? We would like to hear from you. Please add your response by leaving a comment below.
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Source: http://www.kronikmedia.co.uk/blog/improve-small-business-website-performance/6561/
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