7 Ingredients to a better website

Consider including these 7 essential ingredients and your website might deliver a return on your investment of time or money.

1. Get to the point with Your content.

Your website users are not coming to your site to read a novel. They probably don’t have the time or desire to search through your content to understand what you’re trying to say.

Think about what your users need, what’s their pain point, and get to the point. This is a sign of good content. Use a lot of good headers, short paragraphs, and bullet points. Try including video instead of text, and don’t forget your call-to-action!

TIP: Make sure your homepage has around 600-700 words, just to keep Google happy

2. Speed it up: Let’s kick the tires and light the fires!

Remember in the 90s when you watched a website slowly load a company’s awesome flash intro? I used to think those flash intros were freaking cool… Times have changed though.

Thank goodness no one is using flash intros anymore, but you still need to make sure your site loads quickly, like really quickly.

If your site takes three seconds to load, then you need to improve it pronto! You can use sites like gtmetrix.com or page speed insights from Google to get some tips on speeding your site up. If that doesn’t work then you might need to check your hosting.

3. Your business is legit… Does your website look legit too?

“Legit!” That’s what the kids are saying these days, right? You know what else they’d say if they saw your ugly website? “EWW!!”

Maybe you don’t have any 15 year old girls as your clients, but first impressions are a big deal! Good design builds trust, and your website should match the professionalism of your business. This is your company’s image we are talking about!

TIP: Some of the things that help build credibility and trust include: Great design, customer testimonials, professional logos, returns policy information and contact details.

4. Your website should have more than just a pretty face.

What is the goal of your website? It’s probably more than just impressing your potential customers with your nice color scheme, right? Ideally, you want your website users to take action on something, whether that be subscribing to your newsletter, or buying your product.

When thinking about your conversion plan, make sure your site makes a good impression with easy navigation, benefits-driven copy, accessible pricing and highly visible calls-to-action.

TIP: The conversion plan should also consider the sales funnel to pull your web visitors from an initial simple action, right through all the stages of engagement to becoming a customer.

5. There is nothing wrong with a good bribe.

Now that you are impressing your website visitors with your awesomely designed website, your carefully crafted web copy, and lightning fast load times, you need to get their attention!

Offer them a bribe! People are calling them “lead Magnets.” It’s something they would be willing to give you their email for… FREE resources or tools. This could be a Checklist, Cheat-sheet, a FREE sample or trial… Your Mom’s secret chocolate chip & oatmeal cookie recipe!!

TIP: Make sure you include a ‘request a quote’ button or link with your lead magnets. Give them an easy way to get in contact with you.

6. Time to take the reins!

You don’t want people coming to your website wondering what it’s all about and then leave. Make your message clear and try to get them to take action.

It’s important that your website has a clear focus on what you want your visitors to do when they land on a page. It’s much better to give them one clear call-to-action than to give them 10 different choices and hope for the best. You can use an image, a button, or clear text to get them to take action.

TIP: Make your call-to-action big and bold. Without a strong call-to-action, your website is just a pretty brochure site that does nothing for your bottom line.

7. Follow up and stay in contact.

Your visitors probably aren’t going to become a client the moment they arrive at your website. You’ll need to nurture them a bit to gain your trust and connect with them.

Email marketing is a great way to keep in touch with your new prospect and help them learn more about you and your company. If you do a good job getting them on your list it’s probably worth it to keep in touch with them.

TIP: You might need to contact them at least 10 times before they’ll become a customer. But keep at it and make your contact with them something useful for them.