You want a successful website launch, right?
Businesses look to their websites to separate themselves from the competition while showcasing their mission, products, and services to clients. This is why they put a premium on making their websites inviting and easy to use, hoping that this will improve engagement. However, when you’re rushing your website’s launch, you leave yourself prone to missing some integral parts. This could prove detrimental to client conversion.
Eliminating potential missteps during a website launch is of the utmost importance. One way to do this is to identify and apply all crucial elements necessary to avoid these website mistakes.
Below are ten critical elements for a successful business website launch.
1. User-friendliness
When it comes to designing a website, the devil is in the details. But, before you deal with these, you have to see things from a customer’s perspective. You need to ask yourself how your customer will explore your website, and what you want the visitor to do during the visit. Your answers to these questions will be the basis for all decisions about your website’s design.
2. 10-4 on a 404
At some point, your website visitors are bound to see a 404 page staring right back at them. Consider this as another occasion to promote your brand. Despite this minor setback, it’s still a chance to get your message and services known. Make the most out of it, and be creative.
3. Tell site visitors what to do
Do you want your visitors to hand over their emails to you? Do you want them to give you a call? They will, as long as you get that across at the get-go. In other words, your website should have a call to action. This is your website’s raison d’être: to generate potential leads, prospects and customers.
4. An Introductory video
If you want to see your conversion rates increase, include videos within your website. Having a homepage video telling your company’s story is a must. Visitors are more likely to watch a video than read a mountain of text, as studies have shown. In fact, 80% of website traffic will spend time watching one, with conversion rates increasing by an average of 89%.
5. Showing case studies
Potential customers are curious to see how your company operates, and how your products and services helped others with similar needs. With this in mind, it is wise to have a couple of case studies on your website. This will instill confidence in your prospects.
6. Excellent copy
Perhaps the most crucial part of converting your visitors is having great copy. The best business websites recognize this, and they will take pains to write great copy. The best content educates, informs, and entertains.
7. Easy navigation
Some websites get too caught up with getting their creative juices on. They refuse to believe that customers want to be helped and not impressed by design. Your website’s menu designs and labels have to be easy to find and understand.
8. Social media presence
Some websites are guilty of not making their social media presence more accessible to site visitors. Visibly display links to your social media pages on your homepage, instead of hiding them away in the “Contact Us” page. If you want your customers to check you out even further, be more proactive in showing them your social media pages.
[message type=”simple”]
Important: It is not enough to have a social media account. You have to stay active. It is a huge turnoff when a prospect ends up on your Facebook page and the last post was two months ago.
[/message]
9. Lag
Lag is the enemy of all website visitors, from online gamers to grandmas. In fact, it is enough to dissuade prospects from further exploring your website. Minimize the effect of lag by improving your website’s page load time. You can do this by maintaining a simple and clean homepage and hosting your website with a great company, for starters.
10. Trustworthiness
One of the most important reasons to have a website is to build credibility. People have been known to judge someone’s character in a matter of seconds. They also do that with websites. With that said, it is important for your business to come across as credible and reliable. One way to do that via your homepage is to put up an “As Seen In” page. That is where you can show your company being showered by all sorts of good press, if there’s any. Also include customer testimonials. A client list is also helpful when it comes to build credibility. That should tell customers that your company can be trusted.