Many of our clients are surprised at how many important things they are missing from their website which can improve their marketing, growth and sales. These range from site loading speed to your navigation menu. Here are some of the factors that we check apply to our clients’ websites…

The homepage shows USPs and benefits

You have such a short amount of time (reportedly just 6 seconds!) to grab a visitor’s attention before they move onto another website in their search results. An important way to entice them immediately is by highlighting your unique selling points on the homepage.

The homepage immediately tells the visitor what you’re about

It’s important that your homepage shows the visitor straightaway what you offer and how you can help or benefit them.

The URLs contain keywords/phrases

The page URLs need to have relevant keywords/phrases in them, e.g. about-us could be ‘about-typeofcompany-location’ so the URL could be www.yourwebsite.com/about-business-coach-london which would help you appear higher in results when the search term ‘business coach London’ is entered.

Links to social media pages

More and more consumers are checking out the social media pages of businesses before making a purchase. Not only should you have links to your social media pages on your website, but these should be high up the page – ‘above the fold’.

Google Analytics integration

This enables you to view your site statistics. It provides the number of visitors, where people on your site came from, and more. If you want to improve your marketing and get more visitors, your website needs to be visible on as many platforms as possible. Tracking your visitors and where they come from is critical in knowing what marketing tools work.

Meta tags

These are codes in the background of your page containing words and sentences that search engines can read and display in results. People often put loads of keywords in the code hoping that Google will then place them in a higher position. But Google is cleverer than that. Title and description tags are vital as these are what is shown for your page in search results. These need to stand out from your competitors and grab the attention of the people searching.

Keywords and phrases in the content

Think about the words your target market will enter into search engines – anything they might want that you provide. Ensure the content of your site includes these keywords and phrases. For example, if your target market includes businesses and you give advice on cash flow, think about what a business owner might enter into a search engine to find advice on that topic and make sure that phrase is within your content.

Site colours

Many websites that we have redesigned have had too many colours and fonts! The colour scheme needs to be simple and consistent. Links/buttons should all be the same colour to help visitors become familiar with navigating around the site. Don’t use more than 4/5 colours in the site’s main content or it will look untidy and unprofessional.

Using stock photos

Avoid using those cheesy stock photos on your website. There are numerous websites where you can download great quality royalty-free images that look professional.

The website is mobile friendly

Around 50% of website visitors are via mobile phones. Your website should be able to adapt in size for a mobile or tablet. Google are now giving mobile-friendly sites priority positions in search results performed on mobiles, as you can see in the image.

Navigation labels

The labels on your navigation need to be clear and concise, as well as relevant to what the pages are about. They should also be enticing – for example instead of ‘Blog’ it could say ‘Free Advice’ and instead of ‘About Us’ it could say ‘Get To Know Us’.

Regular blog posts/news/articles

A great way of keeping your website updated regularly is by having a blog. It will also show that you’re an expert in your industry; building the ‘know, like and trust’ with your potential clients. Blog posts could be top tips, ways to avoid something, etc. These need to include keywords that your target market are likely to enter in search engines.

Having ‘Where did you hear about us?’ on your forms

This is a simple way to keep track of how people filling in your forms on your website heard about you, to see which advertising methods are most effective.

There are clear calls to action

On every page of your website there should be clear calls to action to encourage visitors to take the next step in your sales cycle, whether you want them to subscribe, contact you or make a purchase.

Testimonials and reviews

Saying how great you are is one thing but having other people say it is so much better. Case studies and testimonials can show how you have helped other businesses.

(MORE: How to get reviews from your customers)

It’s all well and good knowing what needs to be on your website to make it most effective, but do you know how to implement these features so they can be most beneficial? At Belluber we do this for many different businesses – if you would like us to review your website and give you a personal list of recommendations that apply to your business and target market, please get in touch.

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