Your website is the hub of your marketing – it’s the place where almost everyone will visit first when they’re interested in your business, services or products. That’s why it’s vital that your website not only looks as good as possible, but performs well too. Here’s a handy list containing a number of important elements every website in 2014 should have.
- Social Media Links – Every business in 2014 should be active on social media; it’s a vital tool for communicating with both your current and potential customers. Ensuring your social media links are clearly visible on your website is essential. They’re equally as important as your other contact information such as telephone and email. Bonus points – embed a Twitter feed in your footer allowing visitors to see your tweets without leaving the website.
- Clear Calls To Action – Ensure your important service/products pages have relevant calls to action. Whether it’s “call now”, “find out more” or “add to cart”, your important pages should all attempt to drive the user to your end goal. The easier it is for a customer to convert on your site, the more likely it is that they will convert. For example see our Web Design Page – here we have a simple ‘get in touch’ button right below the service description, making it easy for the user to contact us after finding out if the service is something they’re interested in.
- Good Quality Imagery – We can’t stress the importance of this point. Good quality imagery can turn an average looking site into a great one. Throw away the cheesy stock imagery and get some professional shots (put away the iPhone!). In this day and age it’s almost painful to land on a website and see embarrassingly corporate stock photography – it completely eradicates any kind of personality and trust from the site. People like to do business with people, whether that’s being offered a personal service or providing a great customer service experience; do everything you can to give off this impression. As a rule try to avoid stock imagery which contain people at all costs.
- Contact Form – This is a pretty simple one, the easier you can make it for someone to get in touch, the better. Contact Form’s should be concise, only asking for the important required bits of information from the user; too long and you’ll put people off from getting in touch. If possible, set up goals in Google Analytics to track how many contact form completions you’ve had – this will help you better identify where those users have come from.
- Responsive – In 2014 it’s almost a crime not to have a responsive site. With the ever increasing rise of tablets and smartphones, it’s crucial that your site functions and looks great on all devices. Responsive sites automatically scale and adjust depending on the screen/device you’re viewing them on, leading to a seamless experience across devices.
Leave your list of ‘things every website should have’ in the comment box below, we’d love to hear your feedback! If you need any help with your website please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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