10 Tips to Make Your Website Work for You

With internet becoming the most sought after medium of doing business, a website is an indispensable part of any business. At the outset your website serves as your image maker, profoundly impacting the first impression of your business. So do you have more reasons to put in your best efforts to make a great website? Here are some tips.

“If you aren't doing at least some part of your business over the Web, you're missing out on a huge opportunity. Today, the Web forms either an integral part of the business or a fabulous means to extend it,” says an executive from the Blue Apple Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Here are 10 ways of making your website a success:

1. Plan your site

This step is to set your mission and accordingly define your customers. It is only after you decide who you want to target can you know what content to put or how you want to design the site. A site meant for only business people should be clean, uncluttered and conventionally in blue. Something intended for young people can be informal and more relaxed. Women like pink, so a website targeting them can have a similar theme.

2. Build a fast website

They say you have just 30 seconds to capture your visitors’ attention. A website which takes minutes to load might irritate them and make them click away. To minimize your website's load time, keep graphics to a minimum. The use of flashy technologies such as JavaScript, Streaming Audio/Video and Flash animation should be done sparingly. Visitors don’t visit your site to appreciate the beauty of it, they come to do business. Welcome them with professionalism.

3. Use a simple website navigation method

Make your site easy to navigate. Jazzy styles like black index page and hidden navigation tools might look good but if they drive people away from your website, what is the use of having them? If your customers can't navigate your site in order to find what they want to buy, they'll simply click away. Limit the available choices and direct your customer's attention to the sales process. 

4. Design your website for easy search engine indexing

Search engines are the way lead your stake holders to your website. So try your level best to be search engine friendly. Scatter target keywords and search phrases throughout your body copy to give your pages better ranking potential on engines and directories for related searches. If need be take professional help for search engine optimization.

5. Make it easy to order and pay

If you are enabling customers to buy your products/services online you must offer a variety of easy payment methods. If the mode of payment is difficult and if the visitor has to make a lot of effort (which may be clicking more than 5 times) he might not stay with you for long. This may result in loss of business.

6. Include Obvious Contact Details

Giving contact detail shows your willingness to make it easy for your stakeholder to know you. You might have to tolerate a couple of useless calls but that is worth the business that the eagerness to give a personal touch will generate.

7. Content is the key

This is the reason why your customer will remain hooked to your site or will lend you his eyeball space. To the point matter in easy, simple to understand language is what the consumer is looking for. Don’t give them difficult words, give them information. “Websites are the best mode of marketing for SMEs. The keywords used in the content of the website, if search engine friendly give the business more visibility by spending less money in all types of media,” says Suneeta Ghosh, resident manager of Top Rankers, an internet marketing company.

8. Create a Site Map

You should include a detailed, text-based site map, with a link to every page and preferably, a short description of what each page offers. It is easy for a visitor who is looking for specific information on your website. They are also a way for search engines to easily find and index every page on your site.

9. Take care of aesthetics

The design and layout of each page should be the same. The theme throughout the site should remain consistent. This might not add to your business but your visitor will definitely find the site more appealing and you organized because of proper presentation.

10. Check for Errors Regularly

Check for broken links frequently. They will only hamper your business and not benefit you. So rather than being careless and ignoring them better tend to them.