Don’t forget these business website essentials

Is your business’ website turning away customers? Are customers logging on to your website just to abandon your online home because they can’t find what they want? If so, you might need a website upgrade. Remember, the only thing worse than not having a website for your small business is operating a website that is actually turning off your visitors.

Essential ingredients

Fortunately, Entrepreneur Magazine recently offered tips to small business owners struggling with their Websites. The magazine’s advice? Keep your business site simple, easy to find and straightforward to navigate. If you do this, your website can be a tool for building business, not driving it away. The magazine’s first suggestion? Be sure your website immediately tells visitors what your business is and just what it does. You don’t want visitors to have to research your site to determine what services you provide.

Don’t hide

Don’t hide your business’ website behind a perplexing domain name. The simpler your website address, the more likely that prospective customers will find your company’s online home. As an example, if you’re running Green Bay Hardware, make an effort to land the website address www.greenbayhardware.com. That’s a far better choice than the difficult to find www.upperwistools.com. Entrepreneur recommends, too, that your website address end with a .com and that you avoid such distractions as dashes or numbers in your address.

A clear guide

Once customers reach your website, you need to make sure they can find what they are searching for. This simply means including easy-to-find links to your site’s pages and an readily accessible site map. These navigation tools will guide your customers to what they need. And they’ll keep them from fleeing your website – possibly before they order any services or goods – in disappointment.