If you had to grade your business website from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), what kind of score would you give it?
The answer to the question may be more challenging than one might think at first.
That said knowing how your website ranks with consumers is not something you should simply gloss over.
Remember, it is your website that is oftentimes the first big feature consumers see regarding your business.
A stellar website and you could be on your way to multiple sales.
A lethargic website and you could be watching the competition reaping the benefits.
With that in mind, how do you avoid turning your website into a consumer maze?
Give Consumers an Easy Pathway
For starters, consumers don’t want to come on your site, only to field like they’re being led around a corn maze.
Keep your site as clean and organized as possible, making it an informative and yet easy visit for consumers.
Start out by making sure the site is properly organized, meaning the page orders make sense.Sites such as tradebit and others like them have a simple and yet organized flow to the eyes.
Don’t Overlook Content and Social Media
Meantime, your content can’t be overlooked.
If you don’t already have a blog, add one as soon as possible.
A website blog can open up a number of doors for your brand, notably allowing consumers to become more in-tune with your products and/or services.
You can blog about myriad of subjects, making sure that each piece has some kind of value for consumers.
Unlike white papers and other time-involved editorial pieces, keep the blog posts relatively short. While that does not mean posting 50-100 word pieces, don’t go overboard and author pieces more than 1,000 words etc. It is important to keep in mind that many consumers have relatively short attention spans. There’s a good chance you will lose a number of them if your posts are too long.
The blog should not only be informative and authoritative, but also be heavily promoted.
While you should be promoting your blog’s content on various social media channels, also be sure that you are engaging with as many other social networking folks as possible.
One of the means to do this is by sharing some of their content too.
As an example, if you’re in the real estate business, look to share other articles, images and more from other Realtors (unless of course an item is in direction competition with your brand). By doing so, you increase the likelihood that those individuals will in turn help promote some of your blog postings.
Be Open to Feedback
Another important piece of the puzzle (especially if you operate an Ecommerce website) is making sure you have an avenue open to consumers for feedback.
As more and more consumers turn to shopping online, brands must be sure they have a clear way for those individuals to send feedback. That feedback must get to the business owner (and or his or her team) quickly, especially if the consumer is having a problem maneuvering around the site, ordering a product or service etc.
One quick way to lose customers is by giving them a frustrating experience on your website. Remember, in many cases, customers do have more than one option when it comes to purchasing items, so make sure that option is always you and not the competition.
Consumer feedback is also important due to the fact that you may never know what is wrong with your site if you do not hear from individuals.
Yes, you may (more than likely) get some negative feedback at times, but at least you know the consumer is communicating with you and more than likely open to a discussion.
In keeping your business going in the right direction, always look to your website to lead the way.
As important as customer service and other pieces of the business puzzle prove to be, your website can really make the difference between a potential customer and one who ends up doing business with you.
Avoid turning your website into a consumer maze and watch your business take off.
The post Don’t Turn Your Website into a Consumer Maze appeared first on Stump Blog.