Make Your Website Work For You

Your website is your 'shop window': it is the hub of your business and as such needs to work for and not against you. The chances are you will have spent a great deal of time and money on a website so it is important that it performs to its best abilities.

Define goals

Set goals for your website even before it is built. These include the goals of your business, your customers and the site. What do you want the website to do? What is it meant to achieve? What is important is that you understand who your customers are or 'target audience' and how your website will help them to achieve their goals.

This is crucial to the success or failure of your website. Get it right and your conversion rate will increase as will your turnover. Get it wrong and it means a high bounce rate and a downturn in your profits. Find out who your customers are, what they need and how you will fulfil their needs. These are questions you need to ask before the site is designed and goes live.

Boost your online presence

A great online presence is about giving your customers what they need, smoothly and efficiently. The easier it is for customers to find the products they need and at the right price the greater the likelihood that they will stay on your site. And with any luck they will bookmark your site for future reference.

This 'stickiness' is a major factor in improving conversion rates.

So, how can you ensure that your website works hard to achieve its goals? The following suggestions will help:
• Search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Usability
• Accessibility
• Social Media
• Online video
• Testimonials
• Clear copy with strong calls to action

All of these steps will help to drive traffic (more visitors) to your site with the aim of converting these into satisfied customers. This should form part of your overall marketing strategy.

Work in progress

A website is a fluid, organic entity which evolves over time. Too often, websites are built and then left to metaphorically gather dust over time. The content becomes stale and out of date: the blog is abandoned and the pages look tired and lack any focus or point of interest. All of this affects its position in the search engine rankings.

Plus it affects the way your business is perceived. A lacklustre, out of date website makes a poor impression and signals that the business is struggling or has gone under. Not the impression you want to give.

So, ensure that your website has fresh, updated content, makes full use of social media marketing and adapts to meet the needs of the business and its customers.

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Adaptive Consultancy is a London web design company who specialise in website design, eCommerce, and internet marketing, including SEO, PPC and SMO. For more on online marketing agencies visit http://www.adaptiveconsultancy.com/web-design/website-design

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