6 Things Every Business Website Must Have in 2021

You know that saying, “It’s not what you know? It’s who you know?” Well it turns out it can also be applied to your business. The truth is, if you’re a business owner and don’t have a website, or you have one that is poorly designed or outdated, it’s time to get on board with the rest of society if you want to stay competitive.

Each year, the number of people who prefer making purchases online rather than in physical stores increases. In fact a whopping 63% of people say that they prefer shopping online (Statista, 2021).

While this may seem daunting, you can typically find an experienced web designer at a decent cost, or if you prefer to take a stab at it, there are plenty of tools available today that allow even the least tech savvy person to create their own site. BUT BE CAREFUL, creating a website on your own should only be done if you make sure to include what I mention in this article.

Websites are the first place people go to find products, services and/or goods that they need and the last impression they have as they exit (hopefully not before you have captured their email, or made a sale). Unfortunately, not all websites are designed with the consumer in mind. Due to the high demand of being visible online, many business owners throw together a poorly designed website that repels rather than drives traffic.

When design is seen as an after-thought a website ends up being a severe disservice. However, when you take the time or hire a professional web designer or learn how to do it yourself, the benefits stack up.

Here are the top factors that every website MUST have in order to drive traffic, obtain leads, and generate sales:

○ Optimised for both computer and mobile devices

○ Be visually appealing & streamlined

○ Easy to navigate

○ Engaging

○ Fast load time

○ Search Engine Optimization

It only takes 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about your site and decide whether they like it or not- so make those milliseconds count!

Here is a more detailed list of the most important things to consider when designing your website:

1. Optimized for Mobile Devices

As of April 2021, 56.16 percent of all web traffic came through mobile phones (Oberlo, 2021), which is why it is just as important if not more that your website is optimised for not only computers, but especially mobile devices.

Having a mobile-friendly and responsive website for smaller screens is an absolute must if you want to drive traffic and compete. In fact, 57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed w

ebsite on mobile, because the site is so hard to navigate and use.

2. Visually Appealing & Streamlined

Having a visually appealing and streamiliend website is beyond important . From the moment a website visitor lands on your website, it is vital to capture their attention and keep them interested. They will make up their mind about whether or not they want to do business with you before even finishing looking at the first page.

Consider how your website reflects your brand, but also keep in mind that it is an extension of who you are and what your business represents.

3. Easy Navigation

According to recent findings by a leading research firm, navigation is the most important aspect of website design (Small Business Trends, 2021). A site with easy-to-use menus and clear information on how to find different types of content will give their users an enjoyable experience which they are likely to return for again in the future! On the flip-side, poorly designed navigation will lead to frustration and exiting as quickly as possible only to never return.

4. Engaging

You have to be engaging for your customers if you want them to stick around. If people know that they’re going somewhere useful and interesting, they’ll stay on your site longer. A good website is like a party: the longer people stay, the more likely they are to have fun and make friends. When someone visits your site for an extended period of time, there’s no doubt that they’re enjoying themselves.

Designing a website that attracts the attention of customers should be what every business strives for. With engaging design features like sharable content, informative blogs, interactive streaming videos, or even a chatbot to respond to any and all customer needs, your website is sure to have returning users that convert into sales.

You also want to make sure to integrate your social media platforms so that your website visitors may “like” and “follow” you wherever you are online!

5. Speed

Designed with speed in mind. Believe it or not, page load time is a primary ranking factor. According to a Moz study, 40% of website visitors leave a website that takes longer than 4 seconds to load.

You can check your website’s speed on various sites like Pingdom or GTmetrix.com . You’re looking for something between the 2–4 second mark if you want to out speed your competitors.

6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is one of the most important aspects of a successful business these days. With so many companies vying for top rankings, you need to rank your website as high as possible on search engines in order to rank well on search engines and Google Maps to get noticed.

Standing out from the crowd these days all starts with achieving good search engine results. Think about it… Google has become a one stop shop for anything and everything. You need your plumbing fixed, Google knows exactly which plumbing business is closest to you and has the best reviews. Need relationship advice? Google has access to the top rated advice blogs and websites there are.

Therefore, having top search engine rankings with both on and off page SEO is vital for any company, especially those that offer products or services. It’s also important to rank well on Google Maps with not only visibility, but also a lot of excellent reviews.

Being able to achieve high rankings on search engines and Google Maps is definitely easier said than done. That’s where search engine optimization comes in. This service is highly recommended to be implemented by a professional who knows what they are doing.

Consider this: Website traffic is growing at a rapid pace with 4.66 billion active users today-that’s more than half of the world’s population (DataReportal, 2021)! With numbers like these you cannot afford to NOT have a website.

The most recent research has found that 92.2% of internet users are spending their time purchasing from online stores, 81.8% are actively searching for a product or service to buy, and out of these online shoppers-78.6% follow through with their purchase!

When done right, your website has the ability to rank well through SEO tactics, gain trust, and engage your users. More website visitors leads to more website traffic, and ultimately leads to more website conversions (DataReportal, 2021).

All of these things mentioned above, when done well, create user trust and brand credibility.

Therefore, if a well designed and built website provides traffic and traffic equals conversions, and conversions leads to revenue for your business, then shouldn’t website design and SEO be your business’s number one focus?

○ ○ ○

“There are three types of people, those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who are wondering what just happened.”

-Neil Patel