A trustworthy website is an invaluable asset to your business’s success. Today, your site is the first impression any potential customer will have of your brand and you need to make it count. Here are some tips we have gathered to help you and your business give the right impression on the internet.
Let Your Potential Customers Know When and How to Reach You
If you don’t have one already, create a “Contact Us” section right now. Your potential customers need to know that they can contact you if they have any questions or concerns. It is important to have both a phone and an email so your customers have options, and can choose which method they are most comfortable with.
If your business has a brick-and-mortar location, you it’s imperative that you include your address. While this is recommended for businesses that also sell their products online, it is absolutely necessary for businesses that rely on customers that visit a physical store. You are much less likely to garner business when your customers don’t know where they are going.
Many businesses now also choose to use an online dashboard and creating one is easy, so have a look into that if you would like to create an effective online dashboard.
Show Off Good Reviews and Testimonials
This is the online equivalent of asking your friends what they think of the new coffee shop that recently opened in your neighborhood. Your customers trust reviews, even when they don’t know who the reviewers are. This is why Yelp and Google My Business ratings are more important than ever. You may be the best at what you do, but if you have no reviews available, people won’t trust that you are a legitimate business that will satisfy their needs. In order for your customers to trust you and your services or products, they need to know that others have trusted you as well.
Make Social Media Accessible and Engage with Your Customers
Today, not having accessible social media accounts is the equivalent of being located down a dark alley. Your potential customers see this as a red flag and aren’t going to trust you. To make sure you don’t scare away any business, link your social accounts to your website. But it doesn’t stop here! You have to also be an active user on these social media accounts. This means posting regularly, responding to comments and questions, and keeping up to date with other social trends. By engaging with your customers through social media, you create a more personal relationship with your customer base which will ultimately lead to increased trust.
Keep Images Authentic
Having too many stock photos is never a good thing. Not only do they give a fake representation of your business, they make your potential customers question why you wouldn’t want to showcase your own employees, products and offices. If this is something you find yourself doing, and don’t think your own pictures are worthy of your website, it might be a good idea to invest in hiring a photographer to truly capture the essence of your business.
Stay Up-to-Date with Blogs and Website Content
Similar to the social media presence, it is important to stay up-to-date with your website content, including publishing regular blog posts. The great thing about having a blog is that it gives your business a voice to tell your customers who you are, and what is important to you. Having this personal connection to your business will help customers choose you over your competitors. Blogs also give your customers yet another way to interact with you and your business. By posting relevant content, whether it is a personal experience or about a current event, you not only show that you are current with what is going on in your field, but also that you are equipped to deal with problems your customers may have.
Be Transparent About Services and Pricing
There is nothing worse as a consumer than going to buy something or to book an appointment expecting one thing only to be surprised when what you receive is completely different. Being upfront about what exactly you offer, from details about the product or service to complete pricing, will help avoid this disappointment and leave your customers satisfied.
Look Professional With a Strong Design
This can mean a few different things, depending on what your business objectives are, but here are a few things that are universal for all sites. Never, and I mean never, use comic sans. It can be a fun font for kids, but it will not show your customers that you are a serious, professional business who is going to take care of their needs. Make sure you don’t have any misspellings or grammatical errors (see our previous blog post on this topic to learn more), and use headlines that draw your customers in. For the actual layout of your site, keep it minimalistic. You don’t want to overwhelm your visitors with too much copy and not enough pictures, or too many irrelevant pictures, leaving them not knowing who you are.
