What a Professional Website Needs & Why It’s Essential for Business Success
Your website is your home online. It’s where people can find you 24-7 and get to know you, and your services. Thus, a professional well-designed website is essential for businesses to succeed in today’s digital world. It will help you build credibility and develop relationships with site visitors including potential, current, and past clients. Your website may also serve as an online storefront.
A well-designed website should be intuitive, visually appealing, and provide a seamless user experience. To be most effective, your website design needs to reflect your company’s brand and values.
In addition to aesthetic elements, a user-friendly website includes components such as navigation, content, and layout. Some web page design best practices include using whitespace to create focus and incorporating images for visual appeal.
With the right combination of design elements, magnetic copy, and web page design best practices, your website will look professional and attract potential customers.
Here are 5 essential components we recommend including in your website:
1. Quality Content and Clear Messaging
Quality content and clear messaging are essential for attracting visitors and keeping them engaged on your website. Content writing is the process of creating and optimizing web pages to ensure that they are structured, formatted, and optimized for search engine rankings. It involves crafting compelling copy that speaks directly to your target audience while also incorporating on-page SEO optimization techniques.
I recommend crafting a content strategy. A good content strategy includes creating, delivering, and managing content in a way that meets business objectives and fulfills your website visitor needs. It requires research into the target audience, developing a clear purpose for your website, and an analysis of how content will be used to achieve desired outcomes. Quality content combined with effective SEO optimization can help you create an engaging experience for users while also helping your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
When developing content, make sure you deliver the value that your visitors want. Don’t think of your website as a brochure. Rather, think of it as a place people can get the answers and solutions to the problems and challenges they have. You should feel great about what is written on your website. In fact, you should feel like if it was someone else’s website you would share it with your friends or colleagues because it’s so valuable. If you don’t create that experience, don’t expect your website to do much for you.
2. Optimizing Your Site with Keywords
Once you know the direction of your website and you have written the copy that resonates with your audience, you want to make sure you have optimized it for search engines.
Best Keyword Search Tools
There are many keyword search tools available, each with its unique features and capabilities. Here are some of the best keyword search tools and how to use them:
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Google Keyword Planner: This is a free tool that is part of Google Ads. It is designed to help advertisers find keywords to target in their campaigns. To use it, you need to sign up for a Google Ads account, and then you can access the Keyword Planner tool. Enter a keyword or phrase related to your business, and the tool will provide you with a list of related keywords, along with data on search volume, competition, and other metrics.
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SEMrush: SEMrush is a powerful keyword research tool that offers a range of features, including keyword research, site audit, and competitor analysis. To use it, simply enter a keyword or domain name, and the tool will provide you with a list of related keywords, along with data on search volume, competition, and other metrics.
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Ahrefs: Ahrefs is another popular keyword research tool that provides a range of features, including keyword research, backlink analysis, and content research. To use it, enter a keyword or domain name, and the tool will provide you with a list of related keywords, along with data on search volume, competition, and other metrics.
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Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest is a free keyword research tool that offers a range of features, including keyword research, content ideas, and competitor analysis. To use it, enter a keyword or domain name, and the tool will provide you with a list of related keywords, along with data on search volume, competition, and other metrics.
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Moz Keyword Explorer: Moz Keyword Explorer is a keyword research tool that offers a range of features, including keyword research, site audit, and competitor analysis. To use it, enter a keyword or phrase, and the tool will provide you with related keyword suggestions and associated data.
Leverage Your Search Results
Keyword research results can provide valuable insights into what your target audience is searching for online and how they are searching for it. Here are some steps you can take to make the most of your keyword research results:
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Organize and categorize your keywords: Group your keywords into categories that are relevant to your business or website. This will help you to better understand the different topics that are important to your target audience.
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Analyze the search intent: Determine the search intent behind each keyword. Are people looking for information, products, or services? Understanding the search intent can help you to create content that meets the needs of your target audience.
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Prioritize your keywords: Identify the keywords that have the highest search volume, lowest competition, and are most relevant to your business. These keywords will likely provide the greatest opportunity for driving traffic and generating leads.
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Develop content and optimize your website: Use your keyword research to develop high-quality content that targets the keywords you have identified. This will help to improve your website’s search engine rankings and attract more visitors.
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Monitor and refine your keyword strategy: Regularly monitor your keyword rankings and adjust your strategy as needed. This will help to ensure that you are targeting the right keywords and that your content remains relevant to your target audience.
Overall, keyword research is a critical component of any successful digital marketing strategy. By using your keyword research results to inform your content and website optimization efforts, you can attract more visitors and drive more leads and sales for your business.
3. A User-Friendly Structure & Responsive Design
If you want visitors to stay on your website longer, ensure your navigation is intuitive and your design is responsive. Then need to be clearly guided to what you want them to do and it should be easy for them to find what they are looking for.
A user-friendly website navigation will include:
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Clear and Consistent Navigation and/or Categories: A clear and consistent navigation bar (menu) is essential for a user-friendly website. It should be easy to locate, and the labels should be descriptive, making it clear to the user what they can expect to find on each page. Be sure to organize the content on your website into logical categories and subcategories. That makes it easy for users to find what they are looking for quickly.
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A clear Call to Action: A call to action is where you tell your visitors what you want them to do. It’s how you capture their information (like email, mobile phone number, and other information). Using a call to action is how you convert visitors to leads. When they opt-in for your free download, masterclass, or other gifts, they are essentially signaling that they are ready for more. This clear call to action will allow you to follow up and nurture them.
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Search Bar: Provide a search bar that allows users to find content quickly and easily.
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Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs are a useful tool for sites with loads of pages and a complex architecture (think, org chart with many layers). Breadcrumbs will show users where they are in the site’s hierarchy and allow them to navigate back up the hierarchy easily. Plus breadcrumbs are useful for Google especially if you want your site to rank higher.
Responsive Design:
Keep these items in mind when you develop your website so that mobile visitors have a positive user experience on your website:
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Mobile-Friendly Layout: Optimize your website for viewing on different devices, including mobile phones and tablets.
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Fluid Layouts: Fluid layouts adapt to the user’s screen size and provide an optimal viewing experience regardless of the device being used.
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Flexible Images and Videos: Images and videos should be flexible, resizing to fit different screen sizes, without losing quality.
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Minimal Load Times: Pages should load quickly, even on slower mobile networks, to ensure a smooth user experience.
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User-Friendly Forms: Forms should be optimized for mobile devices, with fields that are easy to fill in on small screens, and buttons that are easy to tap.
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Speed: To ensure your website loads fast, be sure to use compressed images, and remove extra plugins or coding.
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Security: Website hacking is a thing you have to plan for these days. Especially if you are using WordPress. With a few simple best practices your website will be safe. Here are some great tips from my web hosting site on how to secure your website: https://www.siteground.com/go/n0ooqsnqu0
4. High-Quality Visuals & Multimedia Elements
The imagery you use on your website should reflect your target market. Where possible, utilize good quality flattering photos of your clients (with permission from them). At a minimum, use their photos on testimonials. Optimally, have photos taken with you and your clients interacting and place them on your services pages and home page.
Any photos of you should be professionally taken. Selfies are not a great option. Selfies are distorted images and look unprofessional.
Other helpful images are diagrams that outline your process or steps. You can have infographics made or make them yourself with some design tools.
Stock images are useful. But use them sparingly. If a website has too many stock images, it looks fake.
If you are ready to stand out, add videos to your website. There are a variety of types of videos you can use. Here are a few ideas (but there are literally thousands of videos you could create):
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a video of you delivering content, demonstrating a product, interacting with a client
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before and after scenarios
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home page welcome video, sizzle reel, or book trailer
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a media interview
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a podcast (that was also recorded as a video) where you were featured
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chat box video
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FAQ video
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after opt-in welcome video
Choose a couple of videos that would be actionable for you to create, and do your very best with that. In fact, hire a professional to help you. You can place them in various strategic spots on your website and also use them for social media.
5. Blog
If you are a thought leader, author, consultant, or coach, or your business is a startup, professional service, or product company, a blog can position you as an industry leader. It’s where you answer specific questions your target market is asking. Alternatively at a minimum have a FAQ page.
Leverage These Essential Components and Your Website Will Work for You
Putting your website together with the above 5 components has numerous benefits. Some of the most significant benefits of having a website include:
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Increased visibility: A website is an online presence that can be accessed by anyone from anywhere in the world. Having a website allows you to reach a broader audience than traditional marketing methods.
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Credibility: A well-designed website can help establish credibility for your business or organization and can be an effective way to build trust with potential customers or supporters.
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Accessibility: A website is available 24/7, which means that potential customers can find information about your business or organization at any time. This can be particularly beneficial for businesses that operate in different time zones or have customers in different parts of the world.
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Cost-effective: A website can be a cost-effective way to promote your business or organization. Compared to traditional marketing methods, such as print or television ads, a website can be relatively inexpensive to create and maintain.
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Data collection: A website can be an effective way to collect data on your customers or supporters. By using analytics tools, you can gather information on how visitors are using your site, which pages are most popular, and other useful data.
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Communication: A website can be an effective communication tool, allowing you to share news, updates, and other information with your customers or supporters. This can help build relationships and keep your audience engaged especially with an irresistible call to action.
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Competitive edge: Having a website can give you a competitive edge in your industry or market. It can be a way to differentiate yourself from competitors and showcase your unique value proposition.
In short, a professional-looking website is essential for any business that wants to succeed in today’s digital world. It can help to build a strong online presence, establish credibility, and connect with potential customers in a meaningful way.
Where to Get Started to Create, Optimize, and/or Enhance Your Website
Not sure where to start to create or enhance your professional website? I’ve got two suggestions for you.
- Check out Christina Hills’ Website Creation Workshop. She runs it twice a year and will walk you through how to do it yourself.
- Want your website services done for you? Book a quick conversation to see how we can help here: https://transformtoday.com/15