First impressions count for a lot, in virtually all aspects of life, including business. If a potential customer doesn’t have a favourable image of your business when they first encounter it, then they’re unlikely to stick around long enough to see what you have to offer. There’ll be plenty of other companies that they can turn to, after all! In this day and age, it’s more important than ever to have a website that conveys credibility, trust, and an all-around positive customer experience. In this blog, we’ll look at some useful tips that’ll put you on the right track.
Get It Professionally Designed
Back in the day, you can realistically get away with having an old website. It was the content that was king, not the design. But that was in the 1990s; today, things are a little different. The standards of website design have risen considerably, so you can no longer get by with a poorly-designed website. While it can be tempting to design your website yourself (since there are free website builders), it’s nearly always best to hire a professional to do the job for you. You’ll pay for it, but think of it as an investment: a beautiful website can give you a small but powerful advantage.
Invest in a Copywriter
Nearly everyone can write, sure, but how many people can write well? Not so many. When you’re operating in “the real world,” you can use your voice and charisma to win customers over to your side. In a digital landscape, it’ll be the words on your website that do that. All too often, website owners write the copy themselves, but what they produce can be confusing and full of mistakes. Your customer needs to know what you’re all about, and if the writing is low-quality, then they can’t do that. Invest in a copywriter to remove this problem. Similarly, look to avoid low-quality stock images for your main site; paid photographs look much better.
Dependable and Secure
Respectability and trust are more important than ever when it comes to making a positive impression with your site. If a visitor has some doubts, then they won’t stick around — and they certainly won’t enter their credit card details. So make sure that the basics of your website are watertight. Dedicated servers can ensure that your website is always online (nothing looks worse than consistent downtime), while you should also ensure that you have all the latest security certificates too. It’s all about letting your visitors know that you take their digital security seriously.
Ongoing Management
Finally, remember that nothing looks worse than a website that looks like it hasn’t been touched in years. If your website is still active, then let people know. Things like making subtle improvements to the layout, changing the photographs, and posting regular content (in the form of blogs etc.) will let your visitors know that yours is a website that is current. It sounds small, but people are naturally sceptical of websites that seem “dead.”