Launching your new business website can feel so fulfilling – finally, you have proof your new business exists, and the whole world has an easy way to interact with your company night and day! But there is also something to be said for remembering that first impressions can only be made once. So when you do launch your website, you want to do your best to make sure it is as ready as possible to stand in the public eye and hold its own. These four cool business tips will help ensure your website is a five-star winner with your customers – right from the start!
Tip #1: Keep Your Content Complete and Up to Date
Once you launch your website, it is easy to get so busy with the day-to-day of running your business and fulfilling orders you then forget your website exists! For this reason, you don’t want to launch your website until you have completed the content for each page. For instance, if you are still in the process of hiring certain key team members, don’t put up place holders for those people with “coming soon!” Either just leave that information off until you have the real person hired and in place, or wait to launch your website until you can completely fill it out. In the same way, you want to be sure to update your website copyright (typically placed on the footer of the website) each year and add fresh content to represent current products and services so your website is the face of your company now.
Tip #2: Ensure Your Website is Simple and Easy to Navigate
You are only launching a company website for one reason – to attract visitors who will become customers! So make your website as self-explanatory and simple to navigate as you possibly can. To test this, ask a friend who knows nothing about your business to visit your site. After they visit, ask them to describe what your company provides, and then ask them to tell you how easy it was to order and pay for your products or services. You want both answers to be immediate and accurate. If not, you have more work to do!
Tip #3: Use Professional Copy for Your Web Pages
Companies that do this right really stand out from their competition. If no one on your staff is a writer, then it is worth hiring a writer to ensure your copy for each web page has correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation, reads logically and clearly, and is easy to follow. Remember, your website is “you” – online. Be sure you present yourself as professionally as you possibly can, whether you write the copy or hire someone to do it for you. If you do plan to write the copy yourself, be sure to ask an objective set of eyes to proofread it for you before you go live!
Tip #4: Add a Blog to Your Website Content
Finally, it is important to remember that today’s web visitors are looking for fresh, “live” content that mimics a real live person-to-person interaction. The best ways to do this online include having an online chat option, incorporating social media into your website, and adding a blog. With your blog, you can chat about new products and services, answer customer questions, solve common customer problems, provide helpful business tips and suggestions, offer freebies and giveaways, promote contests and coupons, and keep the conversation going with your prospects and customers. Also be sure to appoint someone on your staff to moderate the blog and reader comments so you present your company as responsive to customer needs and concerns.
Following these four cool tips will help you establish a website presence that safeguards and promotes your company’s brand, gives you a platform to interact in real-time with prospects and customers, offers an easy way to announce new product and service offerings, and do business on a global level with customers you might never otherwise have the chance to meet!
