Your local business’ website is an important key to weathering the global pandemic with an online presence. With government-ordered lockdowns and physical limitations in place, it is without question that a website is the best way for a business to reach your local customer base as well as generate new sales.
But where do you even begin?
Your Local Business Website: Guide to Getting Started
Starting a website for your local business can be overwhelming. After all, 88% of people judge a company’s credibility based on their website, so you want to be sure to make a great first impression.
Luckily, the team here at EB Media has outlined the three main things you need to create a successful website for your business:
- Essential Content
- Aesthetics
- Good User Experience
We go into more depth on these items below.
1. Essential Content
At a bare minimum, your website should be able to tell a user these things about your business at a glance:
- Name of your business;
- A clear description of your business and what it offers;
- Address;
- Contact information, including phone number and email address;
- Business hours
You don’t need to get overly detailed with the description. For example, a few short sentences as simple as “Nan’s Kitchen is a family-owned bakery. We have been baking fresh bread and pies daily since 1975. Come and see what we have in store!” tells the user what they need to know about your business.
Likewise, contact information, address, and business hours should be easily found on every page of your site. We suggest using the space in your header or footer so that the information is easily found.
Although COVID-19 has changed a lot of things, it hasn’t changed the fact that consumers are still time poor and extremely busy. If your site doesn’t easily offer this information, chances are that they will get frustrated trying to find answers to these questions and ultimately look elsewhere to fill their needs.
2. Aesthetics
All businesses have a unique look-and-feel, and the aesthetics (or visual design) of their websites will generally match them.
For example, a clean, modern website for an accounting practice might make sense, whereas a colourful, punchy website would work for a trendy clothing boutique. In essence, the choice is yours when it comes to selecting the font, colour scheme, and layout of your site.
That being said, it’s important to remember that the aesthetics and design of your site must never sacrifice its usability. Which brings us to our next point…
3. Usability
The features and functions (or usability) of your website is the difference between a good user experience and a bad one. And nothing makes a person abandon a site faster than a bad user experience.
A few things to consider when it comes to usability are:
- Do my pages load quickly?
- Have I chosen appealing colours?
- Are my photos clear and visually pleasing?
- Is my font legible and easy to read?
- Does my layout make intuitive sense?
- Are there zero bugs and errors on my site?
If your site can answer YES to all of the above questions, you are likely delivering a good user experience that will encourage people to do business with you.
When you’re ready to create your business site, contact us to discuss your website needs. We would be happy to chat with you about your company and the goals you’d like to achieve with your site.
