A business website needs to have a whole host of features and pages in order to be functional, attractive, and actively work towards improving your appeal. You can do a lot on your website, especially if you design it in such a way that encourages repeat visits.
The Power of Retargeting
The reason why you actively need people (and not just customers) to revisit your website is due to the power of retargeting. Someone can see something that they are mildly interested in but don’t act on it the first time. If they see it again, and again, however, the seed that was initially planted can bloom into a full-scale want. It’s how trends start to take off and how you can encourage a follower to become a customer over time.
It’s less invasive than trying for the hard sales approach and allows customers to come to you off their own accord. This is the best way to start a relationship, and your website is a huge part of it. Getting followers and newcomers to visit your website regularly can be a feat in and of itself, of course, which is why your new business website needs these top features:
What Your Website Needs to Succeed
With retargeting and customer satisfaction as your goal, know that you will need seven key features on your website.
A Very Attractive Home Page
Your home page is the image that makes the biggest impact on your customers. You can convey your professionalism, your vibe, and your brand persona all in one single instant. A good home page should assure customers, but at the same time, it also encourages them to explore deeper. Don’t assume your home page needs to be artistic, either. Some of the most successful home pages are direct and bold.
A Great, Compelling Blog
A great blog gives your customers many reasons to return, over and over. You just need to figure out what kind of content your customers are interested in, and how you can adapt that type of content to suit your brand’s needs. Don’t assume that every post you make has to refer back to your brand or otherwise advertise your product or service. Your blog should instead be a place where you can showcase your expertise. If you can naturally fit in your products or services in the content, then go for it, but you don’t need to shoehorn anything to get the benefits. At the end of the day, your customer will be on your site, where they can see your products and your brand, regardless of what is in your blog pieces.
Intuitive Customer Journeys
Your customer will visit your website for a few key reasons. They will either be there to learn something (likely from your blog), to find key information about your business or product, to buy from you, or to ask a question/lodge a complaint. You need to go through and regularly audit your website to make sure that it is always easy to do these simple tasks. Information should never feel hidden, and there should never be a hiccup in the checkout or buying actions on your website.
Easy Access to Customer Service Representatives
While having all the information that your customers needs easily within reach on your website is essential, there will be times it is not enough. Your customers may have a custom question or even a problem, and they need to get in touch with your team quickly and easily. Having an email and phone number is not enough, especially not for casual visitors who have a quick question but don’t want to get bogged down with a lot of communication hoops that they will need to jump through.
The best way to offer the communication that your customers need is to provide multiple choices. You should have an online form to easily send an email, have your phone number (and a corresponding interface to help your customers quickly get to the right representative, and of course, a live chat feature. The live chat feature, in particular, is very important to have on your website, and it’s easy to add your live chat button to the bottom of the screen. It takes just a few steps, and soon you’ll be able to communicate easily and quickly with your customers while they have the opportunity to multitask while they wait.
Personalization Features
If your customer creates an account with you, then use that privilege to offer them great personalization features. A fashion brand, for example, can offer customers the chance to save their sizes so that future shopping is faster and easier, because they can automatically filter their search based on clothes that will fit them. You can even ask them for certain preferences so that you can offer them better content that interests them, and of course, reward them on certain milestones (your anniversary, their birthday, etc.).
Custom Landing Pages for Campaigns
If you have a marketing campaign going on, don’t be afraid to create a custom landing page for it. This is the best way to give customers who have clicked through to your site via an advertisement a satisfactory conclusion. It should feel like all the things you promised were on the page they clicked, as this is the best way to successfully soft and hard sell your brand.
Something that Makes it “Different”
You can try to set your business apart by offering something just a little bit different: from a different look to a different physical interface (how customers interact with your website). Just remember not to go too far in this endeavor. You don’t want your customers to see your website as nothing more than a gimmick. You want to be remembered for all the right reasons, so rely on A/B testing to find the perfect way to stand out and delight.
Your website can be a great destination, but only when you really consider how it can add value for your customers and how it can stand out in all the best ways possible. Workshop these ideas, and adapt them to best suit your business.
James Daniels is a freelance writer, business enthusiast, a bit of a tech buff, and an overall geek. He is also an avid reader, who can while away hours reading and knowing about the latest gadgets and tech, whilst offering views and opinions on these topics.
