Home Page - A good home page is an obvious part of all web site marketing strategies, but what's not obvious are the things that should be included on this most-visited page, which is often a customers first impression of your business.
Logo - Your header (the top of the page) should include a bold business logo that allows your customers to clearly and instantly identify your business. Your logo, and the rest of your web site, should look professional - or your customers might assume that your products or services are also inferior. Try to make your logo easy to remember, and if possible, incorporate your URL. This will make it easy for customers to remember your web address for next time.
Tag line - This is an important part of a home page that is so often overlooked. A good tag line should encapsulate your brand into one sentence. It should say very clearly what your business is about. This is so that your visitors will get an instant idea of what your site can offer them.
Take a look at some of your favorite business web sites. Are you able to get an idea of what the brand is about just by looking over the contents on the home page?
Navigation Bar - As a web standard, your navigation bar - which is the links to all the main pages in your web site - should be in a horizontal line just under your logo at the top of the page. This is to make navigating your site as clear and as easy as possible.
Search Bar - It's convenient for your visitors, if you include a search bar somewhere on your home page. This will make finding particular products or services quick and easy. The data that people type into your search bar is also invaluable information, revealing the types of things that your customers are looking for. If you notice certain searches being made regularly, this is a very good indication that something could sell really well, if you don't already have it available for purchase on your site.
Contact Info - Your phone number, email and even a call back request button should be prominent somewhere on your home page. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to get in contact with you.
Popular Products or Services - Another vital ingredient of an effective home page is photographs showing your most popular products or services. These should link directly to their specific pages, containing further information and the option to purchase them. Displaying these on the home page gives your customers an instant example of the types of things that your business offers.
Current Promotions - One extremely effective way to increase sales and to get attention is to have a big promotion displayed on your home page. This might be a seasonal promotion such as, 10% Off For Father's Day or an all-year-round promotion like, Buy 3 - Get Free Shipping, or perhaps Free Trial for New Clients.
Effective Copy (text) - It goes without saying that your web site should have effective copy throughout its pages. The style of writing should be clear, laid out in brief chunks and be well-aligned with your brand or 'style'. It's a common sales technique to major on the benefits of your products or services, clearly stating what's in it for the customer. Your web site text should also be 'keyword rich' for Search Engine Optimization purposes. This means including the exact words and phrases that people might type into Google when searching for your particular products or services.
Footer - The footer, which is the last section at the bottom of your page should include a smaller navigation bar with links to such things as Terms, Privacy Policy, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Contact Us, etc. Your business name along with a Copyright symbol should also be present, as well as any industry association logos, supported charities and security icons, etc. These types of things help to put the customer at ease by making your business appear legitimate and trustworthy.
About Us - This page is your opportunity to introduce yourself not only as a business, but as a person running a business. Your 'About Us' page should be personal, have an outline of your story, and clearly present your brand through such things as Values and Mission Statements. Don't assume that your visitors will automatically know what you are about, this page is a perfect opportunity for you to explain the brand and to let people know what it is that makes you different. Although it may feel vain, it is extremely effective to include a photo of yourself on this page as well. Online users like to see the face behind the web site, and by adding photos of you and your staff, you will begin to connect on a personal level which will help you with gaining customer trust.
Pricing - Pricing is often the most important thing that a customer wants to see before making the purchase decision, so it's important to have this information clear and easily accessible. When listing prices, make sure that you are clear and transparent, listing all charges including any extra costs like shipping or set up fees. Customers can be easily deterred at the quoting phase if you appear to have hidden charges, by not stating all of the costs up front. Be sure to make things as honest and as simple as possible.
Product Or Service Pages - Your web site should have a separate page for each different product or service that you offer. This will prove useful when it comes to advertising, as you will be able to send potential customers directly to specific products or services of interest. The page should include clear photographs, as it's difficult for a customer to imagine your products before making a purchase, unless you send them a sample. Use pointed sales copy and be as specific as you possibly can with your descriptions and specifications. Try to present your products or services as clearly as possible, perhaps even using informative video or flash presentations. Your product/service pages should also include a 'buy now' or 'add to cart' button.
FAQ - When Frequently Asked Questions are listed on your site, you can save a lot of time by not having to answer common queries via email or phone. For this reason, it's worth putting in some initial effort to get this right. Make a list of all the questions that your business receives on a regular basis, and take a look at competitors FAQ pages for any questions that you may have left out. When providing your answers, do so in a friendly manner, remaining positive, and making sure that you don't sound abrupt. The last thing that you want to do is make a potential customer feel stupid, or have a giant list of things that you cannot and will not do!
Terms - Your Terms page is basically a few paragraphs of text outlining the legal terms and conditions of using your website. It really just a legal precaution, but can also help towards creating a sense of security within your customers.
Privacy - Your Privacy Policy page will outline your intended use of the contact and personal information that you collect about your users. This page can also help to put your customers at ease, by letting them know that their information is only collected if they give you their expressed permission.
Contact Us - A good Contact page should include your physical address, postal address, phone and fax. numbers, sales email address, support email address, a call back request button and an inquiry form. By including all of these things, you make it possible for customers to communicate with you in any way that is convenient for them. It's also useful to include maps and a photo of your physical shop front, if you have one.
Site Map - A Site Map is a page which displays a directory tree of all the pages within your website. It will not only make it easy for users to find what they are looking for, but can also help with your search engine rankings. The pages that I have listed above are all quite standard for a business website. If you would like to include some additional enhancements, try some of the following;
Forum - Hosting a forum on your website and building your own community around your brand can be a very good idea for several reasons.
• You can get to know your customers much better • You will have many people returning to your website to answer questions and to read posts • You can collect valuable feedback with surveys and voting polls about site enhancements and service quality • You can collect email addresses of users during the forum sign up process, and ask members if they would like to subscribe to your ongoing newsletter • Your website will receive greater visibility in the search engines, as more pages with relevant content will mean more chances of your site being listed in Google results, etc. • Your site will be seen as a great resource and a place where you customers can hang out
Blog - Another great idea is to include a blog on your website. This can be used to build up a readership by writing regular entries about your niche, your daily business growth or your industry in general. This is a good opportunity to present yourself as an authority within your market, or even just to connect with your customers and reveal some of the personality behind your business. It's also another great way to get good search engine rankings.
Articles - Displaying articles on your website serves two purposes. Firstly, it provides a useful resource for your customers, and also helps with your search engine rankings - as relevant articles will be filled with keywords that are related to your type of business. The articles can either be your own, or sourced from free services such as EzineArticles.com
Gallery - A great way to showcase your product or service designs is to have a picture gallery on your website. The pictures could be photos that have been sent in by customers using your products. Suitable businesses might like to run some kind of competition as an incentive for people to send their photos in via email. This is a great way to display a sense of community and 'social proof' which will increase your sales as potential customers are more likely to make a purchase from you after seeing that a whole bunch of people already have.
Press - If you're business has been the subject of any recent media attention, it's a good idea to display this on a Press page. You can include scanned images of any newspaper or magazine clippings, audio files of radio interviews or links to reviews, etc on other websites. This will also add to the 'social proof' of your website and can make all the difference to sales.
News - Many customers like to keep informed, so a News page can work really well. Use it to let people know what is going on in your business. You might also have news on your particular niche or your industry as a whole.
Order Status - When buying something online, the wait for your product to turn up on your doorstep can be painful. For this reason, it's worth implementing a facility for your customers to track their order status. This can be managed by your e-commerce software and should integrate with your freight company, so tracking numbers can be entered in to locate dispatched packages.
Competitions - Good competitions can really get your customer community involved. If your prizes are good, they will keep customers coming back again and again. The prizes (usually your products or services) can help to get you brand name out there in the public, as the winner will become excited and spread the news of their win far and wide. With a dedicated competitions page, you can also run comps that involve customers submitting feedback about your business.
Street Team - An increasingly common tool for offline marketing strategies is a Street Team. This is a group of incentivized 'die hard fans' whose role is to promote your brand in any way possible within their own sphere of influence. A dedicated Street Team page could have a forum for its members. It could display prizes for the best promoters, have a sign-up form and show pictures or videos of your team out in the public handing out flyers, etc. A Street Team can be a great method of guerrilla marketing for appropriate businesses, and can create a strong sense of belonging within your customers.
Newsletter - Newsletters have become a key component of marketing strategies for any web site. It is a direct line to your customers and periodical mail-outs can be used to keep your brand fresh in their minds. You have the ability to invite customers back to your site at any time for various offers and promotions, generating more sales. A good newsletter is an extremely valuable tool, so be sure to include an opt-in form on your home page and other relevant pages so that customers have the ability to sign up.
MySpace/Facebook - Setting up a MySpace or a Facebook page, is a very good way to present your business to a much wider audience. For some businesses, being present on one of these social networks is a great way to find new customers within your niche. It also allows your existing customers to communicate with you in a comfortable, informal way while giving you the added opportunity to build your brand awareness.
Site Usability - Usability is a term used to measure how well your visitors can use your website to complete specific actions. Efficiency, simplicity and ease-of-use are all important factors when it comes to usability. So as not to deter any potential customers, it is important to make sure that your site is working as well as possible. One way to test usability is to have a group of people who have never used your site before to go through and attempt to perform actions like finding a particular products or service, placing an order, or contacting customer service. If there are any issues, then these will need to be ironed out as soon as possible.
Another important factor of web design is accessibility. As there are thousands of users around the world with different computers, operating systems, browsers, screen resolutions and internet connections - it's important to make sure that your website appears and functions in the best possible way, across multiple platforms. One of the key components of site design adopted by many successful companies including Apple and Google, is simplicity.
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