If you have a small business and you want to advertise on the Web, it can be extremely tempting to just run out and make a website. This can be a big mistake, however. Sites for small businesses require different things than personal sites, academic sites or other types of Web presence. If you don’t pay attention to the special characteristics of your business, you could run into trouble. Let’s take a look at some of the things that your site requires.
Site Description
Any business site needs to get to the point quickly. Include a description of your business and what your site does where your visitors can see it easily. This doesn’t need to be long or complex, but it does need to be obvious and accessible. If your readers aren’t sure how the site works, they won’t stay to find out. Make sure your description includes a good way to contact you, as well.
Sensible Address
Competition for Web addresses can make it hard to get the URL you like best. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work to find a short, easily-understood one, however. Make sure that the Web address you pick makes sense, isn’t hard to spell, and won’t confuse potential visitors. There’s nothing worse than accidentally sending traffic to the competition because your customers can’t remember your website address.
Site Map
A good business website will actually have two site maps: one for visitors and one for the search engines. Both serve the same purpose: to get people to your pages quickly and efficiently. The search engine site map must be built using XML and requires special formatting. The one for visitors can be set up however you like; just make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.
Quality Content
There are lots of tips and tricks for bringing in traffic, but one of the most important is to have high quality content. That means taking the time to look at what you’ve written, hiring a professional writer if necessary, and avoiding the temptation to duplicate content that can be found somewhere else. A flashy design might bring viewers in, but quality content is what keeps them from leaving.
Friendly Design
If you make a website, you should also pay careful attention to page design. It’s important to look for something that does more than just look good. You also need to think about your prospective audience and the features that will attract them. For instance, if you’re building a page that needs to look fresh and interesting for people with a lot of computer experience, the latest multimedia extras may be important. If your audience is mostly older or contains people who have disabilities, you may need to forgo animations and other flashy elements in favor of a site that’s very easy to navigate.
