“Your hair is fine the way it is. It doesn’t need changing.”
My Mum in 1988, I was seven and like all the cool kids, I had a mullet.
Imagine if I’d taken her words literally and never changed, I’d have a mullet now.
It’s the same with your business.
A new year always feels like a good time to make changes. So, whether you’re reading this as you wolf down turkey, or you’re reading on a beach in the middle of summer, I’ve put together a few things you can do to improve your website to give your customers a much better experience.
How to improve your website.
If you already do these, fab!
If not, make these changes now and improve your website:
One. Refresh the words on your website
Make them about your customers and less about you.
Yes, if you’re a regular reader, you’re probably sick of me banging on about this, but your customers are only interested in what you can do for them – not how you were the under-11s inter-schools pole vaulting champion.
For more on this, check out my post: Why Nobody Cares About You.
Two. Make it easy to navigate
Got loads of hidden pages?
Freshen up the links in your navbar, get rid of stuff that’s outdated or irrelevant. Make things easy to find, get rid of the clutter so your visitors can see the essential stuff you want them to find easily.
Three. Make your website mobile-friendly
Ain’t no-one reading your stuff if it looks shit on a phone, and I should know.
An update knocked my page widths out of whack on my blog posts and it wasn’t fixable until I dug deep into the coding.
Check your website on multiple mobile phones to make sure it looks how it should.
Four. Add sharing and social buttons
Give people the option to show others how great your stuff is – and make it easier for you to share your latest news immediately.
You’ll drive traffic to your website by merely sharing stuff on social media.
Five. Improve your SEO
If you run a business, don’t neglect your SEO. You need people to find you organically, and the best way is by optimising your website for search engines.
Make sure you’re ranking for the keywords your customers are typing into Google, Bing and the rest.
Muscle your way to page one on search engines, check out my post How To Optimise Your Blog Posts For SEO for more.
Six. Use better images
Customers love visuals. Make sure yours complement your business. Optimise them, so they don’t take forever and a day to load, and make sure they’re of good quality.
I like to using MattMoji, mostly because he’s better looking than me and shows my business is fun and laid-back.
You won’t get some uptight tit when you work with me.
Seven. Get a proper domain name
Having wordpress.com or similar tacked on the end of your address looks shite.
Make your outfit look professional and shell out for an original domain name.
Eight. Cut the crap.
Get rid of the jargon and keep things simple.
My blog post 7 Ways To Master Short Copy shows you how.
Nine. Add testimonials.
So easy to forget, but a bit of social proof from happy customers goes a long way to persuading others to use your services or buy your products.
Ten. Use internal links.
Don’t let visitors click away, give them a reason to stay (sorry, that rhyme wasn’t intentional).
You’ll notice in this blog post I’ve linked to other helpful posts. This is so I can help you improve your business, as well as keep you on my site.
Don’t feel like doing this is dishonest or sneaky, it isn’t.
If you can keep somebody on your website and make them feel you have their best interests at heart, you’ve taken the first steps in building a great customer relationship.
Eleven. Add Sign Up Forms
Whether it’s to a newsletter or an update when you write a new blog, adding a sign-up form will grow your audience.
And give them an incentive by offering a giveaway when they sign up.
This could be a ‘How To‘ guide or a discount on your services.
Twelve. Include a contact form on every page.
A copywriter on LinkedIn disagreed with me on this.
I ignored them.
You never know what page a potential customer will land on.
Sure, include a separate contact page, but before they have time to change their mind about getting in touch, give them the chance to do it there and then.
There are loads of things you can do to give your customers an enjoyable user experience – these are just for starters.
However, if you need to do loads and don’t have time, check out my Services and get in touch to see how I can improve your website.
Until next time,
Matthew
PS. Mullets rule!
PPS. Not really.