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7 Characteristics of An Effective Small Business Website

Hey there and Happy Tuesday…..

I have been studying web marketing, design and web conversions online for a little while now to figure out what makes a website successful. A website  is one of the most essential elements of creating a web presence for your small business.  

One thing I’ve learned is that a pretty website does not equate to an effective one.    

Furthermore, a poorly done or unattractive website will not work to your businesses advantage. 

If you already have a website or plan to create one soon, it’s important to understand the elements that can improve the effectiveness of your site.  

For today’s blog post, we will take a look at seven characteristics of an effective small business website and what it takes to make one successful.

1.  Great website copy with a “clearly identified target audience”

When prospects and potential buyers come to your website, you want to let them know they are in the right place.

Check out the example below.  As you can see, the site is clearly targeted for small businesses looking for web design companies:

Source: Websites4SmallBiz

Source: Websites4SmallBiz

 2.  Search Engine Optimization

I remember once I approached a friend of mine in New Orleans and I prepared a detailed report on “Why Your New Orleans Business Needs SEO” and struggle hard to convince him to have SEO done for his website. Today the tables have turned, SEO is a basic need for business having a website and looking to acquire customer though it.Search engine optimization is the process of adding certain keywords, title tags and other key phrases to your websites pages, posts (if you have a blog) to drive traffic to your website. 

If you are new to search engine optimization, here is a very useful guide from will help you get started with learning SEO.

3.  Lead Generation Magnets

Lead Generation Magnets are used to attract qualified leads and prospects that are interested in the products and services that your company offers.

Some examples of lead generation magnets are educational guides, free reports, and whitepapers.  Here are some great examples of Lead Generation Magnets for websites:

BenGlassLaw.com Optin Form

BenGlassLaw.com Optin Form


Quick Sprout Lead Generation

Quick Sprout Lead Generation

 4.  Contact Information is prominently displayed on website. 

Have you ever visited a website, and you had a hard time finding the site owners or company’s contact information.  Isn’t that just the absolute worst?

Contact information (including your phone number, email addresses, fax number) should be easy to find in case customers interested in reaching out to you regarding your services will be able to without having to dig through page after page to find this information.

Ben Glass Law Contact Information

Ben Glass Law Contact Information


Websites4SmallBiz Contact Information

Websites4SmallBiz Contact Information

5.  Clear Call-to-Action

Text that asks visitors to take action in one form or another.  Examples of great calls to actions for websites include:

  • Contact Us Today for a Free Consultation
  • Subscribe to our monthly newsletter
  • Fill out the form below for a free trial of our product
  • Sign Up Now for a Free Trial of our product

6.  Easy navigation 

Websites with easy navigation make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for when they come to your website.  Here are some great examples of simple navigation navigational menus from a few websites I’ve ran across on the web:

Collisionlabs.com and Tobiasahlin.com

Collisionlabs.com and Tobiasahlin.com

 7.  Mobile Compatibility (Responsive Web Design)

Did you know 9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action? (Source: SearchEngineLand) As more people continue to use their smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices to browse the internet, it has become increasingly important to create a website that operates on multiple platforms.  

If you plan on building your own website, WordPress.org is an easy to use platform and the WordPress Visual Editor is great even for newbies. Themeforest and Template Monster are great sites that you can use to easily find a WordPress theme to build your website with. 

Responsive Web Design

Responsive Web Design

I hope that this blog post has been helpful to you guys…and most importantly will give you some ideas on key elements that you can add to your small business website.

If you enjoyed this blog post, I would love for you to share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Cheers and make it a great day all!

Annika Bansal
 

Annika "The Chick Geek" is the founder of AnnikaBansal.com. Small Business Sense shares small business ideas, tips and resources for independent Entrepreneurs and Small Business owners.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 2 comments
Danica_7M

Nice article. Like many others, first impression last. So, it’s very important that we leave users a good lasting impression on our website by building a great one. To know more elements of website development

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Millie Hue

I totally agree when you said that the website must be easy to navigate so that the visitors will not have a hard time using it. I will keep that in mind in any case that I pursue my dream to have an online shop while also writing articles that interest me. This will be a very helpful tip so that I can get subscribers, readers, and buyers at the same time once I have the confidence and the money to get this started with.

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