8 tips for improving your website

A professional website is essential for an online business, and unfortunately a poorly made or amateur looking site can actually turn customers away. Here are some tips on how to make sure your website is up to the job.

1. Have a consistent look. Look at magazines, newspapers and other large company branding. While every page of a magazine will look different, there’s usually a consistent content organisation, layout and colour scheme and design throughout the whole magazine. This helps regular readers find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, and to recognise their favourite from all the others on the shelves. If you keep your website design and organisation consistent, you make it a lot easier for your customers.

2. Testing in different browsers. So, you’ve got your website looking exactly how you want it, and then you get an email from an upset customer because they can’t find an item, or even see simple parts of your page. I once fixed a website for a friend who had added a drop down menu to their site, only to find out months no one using Firefox could even see it. That meant every visitor using the Firefox browser could not even navigate through her site. Imagine the lost enquiries and sales if something like that happened to you.

3. Updates and upgrades. Websites need to be regularly updated and checked over, both for providing new content for the search engines and just make sure things are safe and secure. Unfortunately, many people install one of the thousands of free scripts available on the internet, and then leave it there for four years without changes, by which time said free script is very insecure. Once you’re up and running, like everything else in your business your website requires occasional maintenance and updates to keep it running smoothly.

4. Keep it simple. While a site should look good, if it’s too complicated to navigate or too detailed a design, you may lose customers. Keep it appealing without it being overwheming.

5. Keep your customers updated. While you must keep your website content fresh, you should also have a blog with an RSS feed or a regular newsletter to keep your past visitors in the loop about what’s new with you and your business.

6. Get visitor feedback. Running a business is all about providing what the customer wants, and so why not improve your website and offerings by asking your users what they want. You can add a quick survey or a suggestion box easily to your website.

7. Make searching easy. If you have a lot of information or an online store on your website, a search box is a must.

8. Provide quality free content, even if you’re selling yourself as a service. If your website is mostly links and advertisements, there’s not going to be much there to inspire people to stay at your website. Plus, if done right it will also greatly help your SEO efforts.