When creating a website, a lot of small business owners create basically an online business card: a website with a company name, a list of services, and a phone number. Maybe they even add a link to their yelp page and Facebook account.
A website can and should be much more than a business card. If you want customers to find you on the internet and choose you over your competition, here's what you need to remember: on the internet you are not alone. Your competition is on the internet, too.
When searching for a product or a service, a prospect usually types a keyword into Google. A list of businesses comes up. You will be one of the businesses on that list. A prospect will then open a few websites, read, check the information and compare the businesses. Then, choose one or a few.
This is why it is crucial to do a great job on the internet. If your website doesn't do a good enough job, your prospects will choose your competition.
So here we have listed 50 features that your small business website must have.
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Source: 99MediaLab.com.
Source: 99MediaLab.com
Want to share this infographic on your site? Just copy the code below!
Source: 99MediaLab.com.
Here are more details about five features that your website must have for you to get customers from the Internet:
1.Logo and tagline
The attention span of an average internet user is very short. They usually have a few tabs open. When they first arrive at a webpage, they scan it in the split of a second.
The goal you want to accomplish at this step is very simple. You want your website visitors to have "Yes, this website is for me. I've arrived at the right place" reaction.
You logo and your tagline need to evoke positive feelings in your prospects.
When creating a new logo or a tagline, test them on your current customers. Ask your regulars for their opinion when they are in your store or do an email survey. Your customers will be delighted that you care about their opinion and you will receive priceless feedback.
2.USP.
USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. It is your answer to the question "why I as a customer should choose to do business with you and not go with any other option available to me?"
You may think that creating a USP is complicated. It doesn't have to be. Domino's became a multi-billion dollar company with the following USP: "Hot, fresh pizza delivered in 30 minutes guaranteed."
Notice that this USP does not exaggerate anything. It does not promise the best pizza in the world. It doesn't promise a secret recipe. It doesn't even promise the best possible ingredients. All it promises is hot, fresh and on time.
Lee Iacocca has come up with the following guarantee when he was the head of Chrysler: "If you want to see who makes them better, see who guarantees them longer." He then introduced the longest warranty available for motor vehicles at the time. If you think that your product is similar to the competition and you can't figure out how to make your product stand out on its own, you could always make it stand out by having the longest guarantee.
3.Google Analytics Integration
How do you know for how long users are staying on your website? Are they taking the actions you would like them to take? What pages on your website are the most popular, which are the least popular?
You can get answers to these and other questions if you integrate Google Analytics into your website.
Google Analytics is a web analytics service from Google. The basic version is free.
Google also has a premium enterprise edition. Enterprise edition clients include Domino's Pizza, Mercedes Benz and Gilt, so if you are a small business, you'll probably do just fine with the regular free edition.
4.Testimonials and Reviews
We all are used to the fact that sellers will often promise us anything and everything to make a sale and to get out business.
Here's what most people are thinking before giving someone money: "I know they will say the things I want to hear before I give them money. I wonder what will happen thereafter."
Whatever your say in response to these thoughts, a prospect will still have doubts.
There is, however, a solution to this problem. This solution is to have a lot of reviews and testimonials.
Prospects who haven't bought from you in the past trust reviews and testimonials much more than they trust you.
The reason is simple: you want their money. Someone who wrote a review doesn't want their money. Therefore, they can be trusted.
Reviews have yet another benefit: someone else can say about you things that you can't say about yourself. If, for example, you tell someone, that you'll provide them with "the absolute best, perfect experience," the prospect will probably decide that your advertising is over the top.
If, however, you have a number of testimonials that claim that you provide "a perfect experience," it would mean that you must be really good.
What are the most common objections that your prospects have to not buy from you? If you collect testimonials proactively and ask your customers about their opinion about your place of business, build questions about the objections in your surveys.
Your testimonials will be much more powerful if they have stories in them, such as "I've been deceived five times by businesses like this one. At first I thought they were just like the other guys. I am glad to say my expectations were wrong. Here's what they've done to surpass them."
5.No flash elements on your website.
You should avoid flash for a few reasons. Flash files cannot be indexed by search engines.
When a search engine scans your page and decides how high you should appear in search results, you will get a lower rating because of Flash.
In addition to this, Flash files are not compatible with many mobile devices including Apple's iPhones and iPads.
With all these limitations you are better off avoiding Flash altogether.