website_design_copy.jpgCreating a clean and professional looking website that is easy to navigate and is optimized for search engines is one of easiest yet most effective ways to increase sales for your business. Designing, or redesigning your website? Make sure it’s correctly optimized to turn visitors into paying customers by utilizing the following website design tips…

Incorporate Keywords

The web is incredibly vast. You need to ensure as many potential customers as possible find their way to you when they’re surfing it. To do so, be sure to embed keywords into your site’s title tag and meta description so that search engines correctly understand and catalog the contents of your site’s pages. You’ll also want to add meta keywords into the general copy throughout your website.

Be Consistent with Your Branding

Consistency is one of the main components of effective branding. Avoid confusing consumers by making sure your website matches your other marketing materials in look, feel and tone. Be consistent with your messaging, font choices and color schemes.

Be Clear with Your Calls to Action

“Sign up today!” “Call 555-5555 for more details.” “Enter your email address to receive our weekly newsletter.” These are all examples of “calls to action.” Think about what do you want visitors to do when they visit your site. Is there a form field they should be filing out with their contact info? Should they be calling you on the phone? Whatever your desired result, make sure there are clear “calls to action” placed prominently throughout your site so consumers know what you want them to do.

Keep Copy to a Minimum

Nobody other than you is going to read every word of your website top to bottom. So resist the temptation to cram as many words into it as possible. Instead, make sure every page of your site is optimized for quick viewing. Take your most important information and calls to action and communicate them clearly and concisely in headlines and subheads. Then separate out your supporting copy in easily scannable bullet points whenever possible. The less copy the better.

Host a Blog on your Site 

Hosting an SEO-optimized blog on your website gives you a whole host of benefits. It allows you to position yourself as an expert within your field. It enables you to communicate with consumers about your latest product offerings. Plus, it boosts both your credibility with those consumers as well as your ranking in search engines.

Make Your Site Easy to Navigate

Research shows that if visitors to your site don’t quickly find what they are looking for, they’ll look for it elsewhere. Make sure your website is easy to navigate by incorporating links at the top of each page, using descriptive language in your navigation menus and using subheads to separate out info on specific pages. Also, try to make all information assessable in 3 clicks or less from your homepage.

Avoid Cheap Stock Photography

Whenever possible, you’ll want to avoid populating your site with cheap stock photography. Remember, the goal is to have a professional looking site that makes your business look as reputable as possible. If you don’t have the resources to pay for higher quality photos or to arrange a photo shoot yourself, look for ways to design a site with less photography in it.

Optimize for Mobile

These days if your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you might as well not have a website at all. Make sure your website loads quickly, is easy to navigate and has content that is easy to consume from any smartphone.

Search for Inspiration

Not sure where to start as far as your website’s design? Look around for sites you like and identify what elements of those sites would make sense for you to incorporate into your own. Then, work with your web developer (assuming you aren’t building your site yourself) to incorporate those elements into a site design that’s uniquely your own.

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