Business as we know it is changing rapidly. More and more transactions and interactions that used to occur in personor over the telephoneare nowtaking place online. Customers are becoming more web-savvy and search engines are learning more and more about users' behavior online.
This is why it is crucial for business owners to take a step back and ask themselves: Am I doing everything I can to ensure that my site is as user-friendly as it can be? If the customer is unsatisfied with thetime he spends on your site, this could have serious negative repercussions for your business.
Here are several questions that all business owners should take into consideration when evaluating their company's website:
1) Does my site look professional?
Gone are the days when flashy images and sparkly banners looked appealing to customers. The best sites on the internet today are aesthetically pleasing because they are simple. Stick to cool color schemes and basic grids and tables. Customers might be turned away by overly flashy or "messy" sites they don't want to do business with a company that seems disorganized or frazzled.
2) Spelling and grammar are extremely important!
Making sure that the content on your site is spelled correctly and does not contain grammar errors is very important because it tells the customer that your company is professional. You want the customer to believe that your staff is well-trained, reliable, and professional, and having blatant grammatical errors in your write-ups is a big red flag!
3) Social Media
These days, enough cannot be said about the importance of social media. Those sites that lack social media outlets are not being as competitive as they could be in a very tech-heavy marketplace. Consider building at least a Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn site for your company to ensure that customers can find out about it through multiple media.
4) Contact Information / Conversion Path
The worst mistake a company can make on their site is making it unclear how prospective clients can contact them or purchase their service! If a client has a bad user experience on your site because they can't figure out how to actually carry out their desired action, you might as well be giving away money to your competitors.
While these tips cover some of the basic features that companies must consider about their websites, they are in no way fully inclusive. Keep up to date on how websites are changing and what the best sites are doing to draw in customers and ensure that they are having a good user experience.