Best Practices for Small Business Websites

As the world of web design and small business changes, so do the best practices for small business to use on their website. What people find most helpful and visually appealing now is different from what worked best five years ago, even last year. It’s important to work with a web design company that understands the continuous evolution of web trends. What are some things to keep in mind as you work with your web developer to design your custom website?

Videos are a dynamic website feature that you can use to showcase your personality and visually display services the workflow of your business.  Videos can be instructional, informative, or promotional and can be embedded directly on pages of your website or you can connect your website with a YouTube channel. Testimonials are very effective and personalized in video form as well. You don’t need expensive, high tech equipment, either: a decent digital camcorder and microphones should work fine for this purpose.

Your website’s homepage should lead into the rest of the website. Keep content brief, but distributed evenly on the page, using boxes, “Learn More” buttons, colorful photos, and of course, your logo and contact information. The home page will be the first page most visitors will see, so use it to introduce your company and get people interested in exploring the rest of the site.  The navigation that appears on your homepage and throughout the site should be effortless for the user. Don’t make it hard for them to find contact information or have a navigation link leading to an irrelevant page.

When it comes to content you’re publishing on social media, focus on quality over quantity. Small business can create a strong social media presence by posting on each account they have two to three times per month. That way, you appear active, but not so active that you aren’t spending time working your business.  It’s also a good idea to promote a few other local businesses on your site with exterior links—they can do the same for you on their site. Publicizing a few other businesses will help you to appear integrated with the community.  Finally, you should include several call-to-actions throughout your site in different forms. These can be buttons, links, or copy in itself and can be anything from “Call Us Today!” to “Print Out this 40% off coupon”.

Beyond Custom Websites and their team of web developers can integrate videos, a dynamic home page, easy navigation,  links to your social media, calls to action, and more to complete your custom website and establish your web presence. Our team of web designers and business experts also offer excellent customer service and business advice to develop a relationship with each customer. Get started with BCW by visiting our website.