Websites that work (even when you’re resting)

Your online presence can have a massive impact on the success of your business and just as you only get one chance to make a great first impression, the same goes for your website. 

Research shows that 86% of people do online research, mostly looking at the business’ own website and neutral review sites, prior to making a purchase, whether it be online or in person.  

By having a website that clearly communicates quality information to your customers you are adding legitimacy to your brand and helping it stand out from the competition. What’s more, they represent your business 24/7!

We spoke to web developer and small business owner Daniel Borg from Psyborg and asked him to give us his top tips for small businesses wanting to build a website from scratch or overhaul their old one.

First things first -  where to start!

With a bit of know-how you can create your own website for as little as $100 or failing this you can hire someone to do the work for you. Regardless of your business, Borg says you can’t go wrong with choosing a website template from Wordpress. 

“The beauty of wordpress is you can customise and have ultimate control, whereas with other products you are limited in what you can build without hiring an expert”.  

Before attempting any of this, you need to choose and purchase a domain name (URL) and to check for any trademarks. You can do this by visiting the ATMOSS website. 

Tip: Borg says if your chosen business name has been taken you can always create a short slogan instead. For example the Gold Coast’s tourism website is WeAreGoldCoast.com.au. 

You then need to host your site. This can be the same place you buy the domain name (such as with companies such as GoDaddy) or at a totally separate company. 

All websites aren’t created equal

No matter what business you’re in, there’s always going to be competition and your website could make or break a sale. Creating a good website basically comes down to creating a good user experience. By sticking to the following standards Borg says you really can’t go wrong:

• Easy navigation - can users get to where they need to? 

• A simple layout - can users see everything clearly?

• Good content - is everything on the website engaging and easy to understand?

• Fast speed - does the website load quickly?

• Mobile friendly and responsive - does it look good on a smartphone?

The secret web designers don’t want you to know

Unless you’ve built a site yourself you probably won’t be aware that there are thousands of premade theme templates you can use to design your Wordpress site. You can find one of the best libraries with ThemeForest. You then have the option of  “plugins” that seamlessly integrate with your site. 

Plugins bring in important functions to your website, adding contact forms, improving SEO, increasing site speed and offering email opt-ins are all examples of functions that can be added to your site with a plugin. 

Woo commerce is one of the most used plugins, and is perfect for a website that processes payments.

The importance of appearance

Your website should be appealing and professional to the eye. If you’ve got a good logo, it’s a great idea to keep this in mind for building brand awareness. Details such as colour scheme (complimentary to your logo), shapes (circular vs square), borders and dividers to differentiate content, typography, fonts and whether the spacing feels cramped or spaced. 

Where possible it’s best to use professional photos over stock images (especially the all too cheesy ones that don’t look authentic).

Tip: With a good eye and a good camera you don’t need a professional. Borg recommends doing a YouTube search about how to take a good photo. Later model phone cameras give stock photos a run for their money.

Finding people to visit you – the power of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Just because you put up a website doesn’t mean you’ll be easily found. You really have two choices, paid versus organic (free) search.

The downside to paid advertising is the cost however the benefit is that you will have customers right away. SEO can be done yourself however will take a bit more time to build momentum in search results.

Borg recommends writing blog articles about your area of expertise, with keywords in mind. 

“Google wants to show the most credible websites that answer what people are looking for, so writing good quality blog articles will help you outrank your competitors”. 

Tip: Google owns Youtube. Video content helps your site to be discovered, especially if you embed your Youtube video to your website.

Capture your audience

It’s one thing having people visit your website but you really need to grab their details before they leave. Do this by adding contact forms and calls to action such as “book an appointment”. 

Once you have their information you can send them newsletters with useful information. Continue to send them good information and you will build their trust and form a relationship. This type of marketing is cheap and can be very effective. 

Tip: Mailchimp is a great email marketing solution you can easily integrate to your website. Just ensure your theme or plugin enables integration.

Know what’s working and what’s not

No site is complete without Google Analytics and an added Wordpress benefit is the plugin “Google Site Kit” which makes the google analytics dashboard available to you so that you can track the progress of your site.

A website is one of the best ways to showcase your brand to prospective customers and with just a little knowhow you can easily create one yourself. Now you know the basics, even if you decide to have someone build one for you, you’re in a great place to start. 

Whether your business is entirely online or a bricks and mortar store, don’t forget to get the right business insurance policy for a peace of mind. NRMA offers a range of comprehensive business insurance policies for people across several Australian States and Territories, including ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS and WA.