Having a website is non-negotiable for any modern Manhattan-based business. A well-designed and functional website is necessary for any venture wishing to increase sales and awareness of its brand. But recognizing the necessity of a website is one thing; designing and developing it the right way is another thing entirely.
A poorly thought-out website can cost you precious conversions and a loss of potential profit. There are several considerations to take into account to avoid such an outcome. Whether you’re developing a site in-house or hiring outside web experts, understanding this information will help you vet the work to ensure that it aligns with your goals.
If you’re not confident that you can manage this, don’t hesitate to ask for help. There are various professional web design and development services in New York that you can use to your advantage.
About Page
A page with information about who you are and what you do is expected of every website. Use your about page as a platform to tell your story uniquely and interestingly in a manner that will grab readers’ imagination. However, try not to get carried away; stick to information that will be relevant to your business’s objectives.
Accessibility
Your site should be fully accessible to all kinds of users, meaning visitors with disabilities should also be able to navigate, interact, and understand the content. Web accessibility covers visitors with the following disabilities:
Auditory,
Visual,
Physical,
Cognitive,
Neurological,
Speech, and
Temporary and changing disabilities.
For example, visually impaired visitors will likely come to your website using a device that reads your content aloud. Be sure your content is easy to digest, and don’t forget to include alt text on images. This can also help those with cognitive or even physical disabilities. Or, for visitors with auditory disabilities, incorporate closed captioning or sign language in videos.
CTAs
Well placed, clear calls to action are central to the ability of your website’s content to convert visitors into regular consumers. Having a sales page is simply not enough; you also need clear CTAs to guide visitors from whichever webpage they find themselves on. A CTA could mean the difference between a visitor leaving your site without making a purchase and them following through to checkout.
SSL Certification
If your website has an online store, you need to ensure that its security is top-notch. Among the tools that will help you keep hackers at bay is an SSL certificate. This ensures that communication to and from your site is encrypted so that would-be intruders cannot steal sensitive information like session passwords or credit card information.
Displaying Contact Information
One of the ways you can establish your business’s credibility is by displaying your contact information. Having a physical address and a contact phone number reassures them that your business actually exists and that there is a way to get hold of you if they require assistance.
Testimonials
Having somebody other than yourself who can vouch for your brand and your customer service quality lends credibility to all the things you promise on your website. Get in touch with some previous clients and ask them to say something about their experience with your products and your business. Quoting them verbatim is good; having them testify on camera is even better.
Mobile Design
Research has shown that half of the Internet’s users access the Web from mobile devices. Therefore, you should invest time and effort into ensuring that your site loads well, functions, and looks appealing on smartphones and tablets. Take advantage of the mobile web design tools most website builders and CMSs offer to ensure that visitors have a mobile experience that matches your site’s desktop experience.
Load Times
You probably know from experience how frustrating it can be to click on a link only to be made to wait an eternity to view the info you wanted. Chances are you canceled the download, returned to the search engine results page, and clicked on the next link. If you don’t want this to be an issue for your customers, monitor your website’s load times closely.
Make it a habit to use any of the many available online speed test sites to check your site’s load times. If your pages are loading slower than you want, optimize them by reducing image file sizes. Note that Google’s algorithm may push your site lower in results pages if it loads too slowly.
UX
Your website should be designed with the end-user in mind. Many web designers get caught up in presenting information in fancy formats or effects, to the detriment of the experience of navigating the site. To be sure your site feels good to navigate, test your site’s usability extensively before you go live. You can ask colleagues to give you feedback on their experience using your site, or you can arrange focus groups, etc.
Good Copy
Good copy is essential for your website. Web content riddled with grammatical errors and typos will give readers the impression that you’re not as professional as you claim to be. Google’s algorithm is programmed to sniff out substandard copy stuffed with keywords and will send your site tumbling down results page rankings if your content isn’t up to par.
Include a Blog
Maintaining an active blog gives Google and other search engines a reason to list your website among search results. It is essential to craft a blog around the information your target audience is likely to search for. Each time you upload a blog post, you will be increasing your site’s visibility and its chances of being found by internet users searching for the keywords contained within the post.
Bring in the Experts
There is quite a lot that goes into building an effective website that visitors will want to engage with. Make it a point to define your goals and what you hope to achieve from your site. The right platform and graphics will need to be selected, and you will need to design a mobile version to meet the surge in mobile internet browsing. Consider hiring help to take the guesswork out of this process.