How to Build a Small Business Website: 10 Must-Have Elements That Increases Conversions
Danielle Uhl, MSOL
Dynamic Leader with 15+ Years in Operations, Project Management, HR & Small Business Management | Committed to Continuous Learning
This is a shortened version of this article — read the full article here on my blog.
How to Build a Small Business Website: 10 Must-Have Elements That Increases Conversions
A well-designed website is crucial today for small businesses. However, it’s not just enough to throw together a website for free on Canva or Wix and hope for the best. In other words, just because you have a website, doesn’t mean it’s going to effectively market your business, reach or appeal to your target customer, let alone convert them into paying customers to grow your business. In this article, I’ll be sharing the top 10 key elements your website must have to not only look professional, but be functional and effective to increase your visibility and conversions.
TL;DR
The Ultimate Website Checklist
10 Must-Have Elements for Skyrocketing Conversions
This Free Training and Checklist was designed to help you create an effective website with 10 must-have elements to increase conversions and grow your business to the next level!
10 Must-Have Elements for Small Business Websites That Increases Conversions
1. Target and Position Your Website
First, you need to determine WHO your website is for and WHAT you will be selling to them. You’ve probably heard, “If you’re speaking to everyone, then you’re speaking to no one.†For that reason, you need to decide who you want your website messaging to target, and how you will position your offer to sell directly to them.
2. Clear and Compelling Value Proposition
At the top of your website's homepage, it should immediately and clearly answer two important questions – WHAT you do and WHO it’s for — a.k.a. your value proposition. People are busy and have short attention spans. When someone lands on your site, they’re only going to allow minimal time to understand if they should continue scrolling or exit out. So, your value proposition needs to be a part of the “first fold†of your website – which essentially means the top of your website before scrolling.
3. Clear Navigation
Your website navigation needs to be clear and easy to understand. Don’t get clever; although it might seem fun, is it potentially one of the worst decisions you can make for your website. It may feel boring to stick with the typical ‘About,’ ‘Services,’ and ‘Contact’ page titles, but people who land on your website know exactly what these mean and what to expect when they go to these pages – this is how they will understand to navigate your website to find exactly what they are looking for. If a website visitor feels confused, they will give up and exit out.
4. Logo & Branding
Your website is a marketing tool and asset for your business, and your branding and logo help to build brand recognition and loyalty. When you build your website, your logo should be immediately visible and your branding should help tie everything together. Include your logo at the top by your menu and in the footer of your website. For your branding, the colors you use throughout your website and the way you speak about your business, should remain consistent throughout your website, tying it all together to look and feel cohesive.
5. Photos for Website
While stock photos may make for great placeholders for a new website, stock photos won’t help your conversion rates – in fact, stock photos actually hurt your business. Instead, the best thing you can do is book your own branding photography session to get real photos of you (especially if you are the face of your brand or sole service provider) that’s designed around your brand and business. To help you learn more about branding photography and what types of photos you need for your website, check out my The Ultimate Branding Photography Guide and The Ultimate Guide to Website Photography.
6. Testimonials and Social Proof
Customer testimonials and reviews, certifications ,accreditations, and badges, and other logos of customers you’ve worked with or press you’ve been featured in – i.e. your bragging rights. These not only help your website and business look professional, but these elements provide potential customers with ‘proof’ to help them decide to buy or work with you. Use these elements as a tool sprinkled throughout your entire website, especially your services or sales pages as you lead your potential customer closer to the Call-to-Action where you ideally want them to buy. These elements can help build credibility and trust with your potential customers to help increase your conversions.
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7. Content Flow and Direction
Consider the overall flow of your website and how that flow of content (copy, images, buttons, etc.) seamlessly leads your website visitors (potential customers) to the next step you want them to take. Your website layout and design needs to lead people through your content flow and to your Call-to-Action (which we’ll get into next). You might also consider guiding different types of target customers through your homepage. For example, one button for patients and one for providers that lead to your different offers.
8. Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA)
Ask yourself, what is the single action that you want your potential customer to take? This is where your conversions happen. But there’s another thing I want you to consider. We all want people to buy our offers right away or at least book a call with us to get started, but the majority of people won’t. They need more time to get to know you, like you, and trust you before investing their money. Because of this, consider two CTAs per potential customer. Lead your potential customer to your offer and then invite them to take the next step to get started with you or buy (i.e. Book a Call, Buy Now, Get a Quote, etc.) Then, consider a second CTA if they are not ready just yet (i.e. Subscribe to your newsletter, Follow you on social media, or potentially Download a free resource by giving you their email address. The goal here is to capture your potential customers' information who aren’t ready to take action so that you can stay top-of-mind to warm them up as a lead until they are ready to buy.
9. Mobile-Responsive Design
Nowadays, building a website that is mobile-responsive is a MUST. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re going to lose website visitors immediately and potential customers (goodbye conversions). Most platforms make it easy to design your website specifically for mobile devices. This may look like adjusting your website’s menu, layout, resizing images and elements, making sure that your website copy (text) is in the correct order, etc.
10. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If you aren’t doing at least the bare minimum of SEO on your website, you almost may as well not have one – it’s that important! Because if your website can’t be found, then you won’t have any conversions (or customers). Consider a few keywords that make sense for your business that helps your website get found. Use these keywords on your website – in your headings, copy, blog, and settings for each page including SEO titles, descriptions, and metadata. You may even include at least your main keyword in your site title.
Bonus: Analytics and Conversions
Once you launch your website, you’ll need to regularly look into your website’s analytics. Keep in mind that improving your conversions is a process that takes time, assessment, and testing. Much like any other marketing strategy, it takes time to get it working, time to assess and make adjustments, and continual measuring and adjusting as you go to get it optimized and effective.
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Danielle Uhl, MSOL is a Certified Coach & Business Mentor with over a decade of corporate experience and three successful entrepreneurial ventures under her belt. With a Bachelors & Masters in Business, she combines her academic knowledge with real-world expertise to help small business owners navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship. Danielle’s unique #WATCHME? brand encourages ambitious solo-business owners to pave their own path and create their own version of success and sustainable growth.
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