Five Ways to Improve Your Website or Blog

When a customer pulls into a business’s parking lot, the first thing they notice is the exterior of the building and whether or not it’s presentable. By the time that customer reaches the front door, he or she has already begun to form an opinion about the business based on what was seen outside. The same scenario plays out when potential customers arrive at your small business website. If they’re greeted with a site that’s messy, cluttered, and not inviting, chances are you’ll miss out on converting them to a buyer. Use these tips to improve your website or business blog to more easily convert lookers to buyers.

1. Use Quality Graphics. Photos and images are important to your website or blog, but don’t use any that contribute toward a poor viewer experience. If the graphics on your site are too small, too large or blurry and pixelated, they’re going to affect the overall quality of your site and the first impressions it elicits. Always use quality graphics and personally check them out on your website to ensure they look professional.
2. Be Concise. One to two page lengths for the viewer to scroll through is sufficient for your home page. Use your site’s other pages to provide details about products, services and other aspects of your business. Getting too wordy or trying to squeeze too much onto your website’s landing page will overwhelm visitors and cause them to hit the “back” button.
3. Make Website Navigation Simple. A single-column or single-row navigation bar keeps your site user-friendly. Although you don’t want your navigation menu to be the focus of your site, you do want it to be easy to find and sift through. Create categories and sub-categories in a dropdown menu form to prevent the menu from becoming too long and confusing.
4. Be Easily Accessible to Consumers. Customer service isn’t any less important just because a business owner has a website to hide behind. In fact, it’s even more important to be accessible and create humanness so potential customers feel connected. In addition to your contact page, place contact information on each of your website’s pages.
5. Blog Regularly. Small business owners often start a business blog with enthusiasm and quickly run out of steam when they don’t attract subscribers or see their blog increasing sales. Well-written, business-related blog posts will attract subscribers and slowly build your business, but you have to blog regularly to avoid losing the interest of your viewers. If you don’t have time to do anything more regular than an occasional, random blog post, hire someone else, either a freelance blogger or a professional internet marketing company, to take on the task so your blog can be updated a minimum of one to three times per week.

First impressions do make a difference; even if you’re offering the best products or services in your niche, if your website looks unprofessional or is hard to deal with, you’re going to lose business. Increase your profit and turn visitors into customers by making your website or blog the best it can be. These tips can get you started whether you’re tackling your website by yourself or have an expert helping you.