Recession-Busting Website Ideas For Your Business
Posted on 1st October 2019
With all the uncertainty around Brexit and Donald Trump’s trade wars with China looking likely to lead to economic downturn, it’s no surprise that financial institutions are advising that a recession might be on the way. 2020 looks like it might be a difficult year for business. So, it’s very important to make the necessary preparations now.
Recessions are obviously very difficult periods for many businesses, especially smaller organisations who can’t absorb the hit. But even small factors can make the difference between riding out the bad times and succumbing to the fate that befalls so many other enterprises during hard times.
One factor that gives modern businesses an edge, compared with those that suffered historical recessions, is the internet. A website means you can expand your market beyond the local area. It lets you target new markets, gives you greater visibility, and provides a useful weapon against localised issues.
Which is why tweaking your website might be essential in the run up to the tough year ahead.
Here are some minor changes you can make that might just add up to a big difference:
Link-building
You probably already know that having links on your website helps to make it more visible to search engines such as Google. The same goes for having links on other sites, social media, and marketing materials. But the key is to not have all your links aimed at the same place.
Don’t always link to your home page - try and use links to boost parts of your site that will benefit the most. This could be product pages or contact information. The more visible you can make these, the more effective your site will be.
Remember, don’t overdo it. You can’t just stick hundreds of links in and hope they will be effective.
Enhance your website content
When was the last time you updated the content on your website? Was it written by a professional copywriter? Does it offer a rich source of information? The content on your page is not just there to fill space. Ideally it should be a magnet to draw in customers looking for the right information.
If your content is out of date or poorly written, then it’s going to be a big turn off right away. Make sure you review content on a regular basis, and promote new content through social media channels to attract visitors.
Reviews and testimonials
One of the big stumbling blocks to making online sales is trust. In order to get a potential customer to make a purchase, they need to be able to trust you. Which is why customer reviews and testimonials are so useful. By seeing what other people have thought about your goods and services, it helps to engender trust in your brand. This in turn boosts sales.
The law says reviews must be truthful and not misleading and always remember to seek approriate permission from your client to use the review on your website.
Infographics
These are rich sources of information that are easily digestible. They present facts and figures in an important and easy to use way, so people don’t have to go digging around in your site to find what they’re looking for.
User experience
We can’t stress how important it is for your site to offer ease of use to your customers. Studies have shown that we make snap judgements about websites, so that only gives you a few seconds to make a good impression. The design of your site needs to have an immediate impact in terms of being easy to navigate and understand. If users can’t find what they’re looking for they will be off to a competitor.
User experience, or UX, is the process of making your site more favourable and easy to use. Navigation, clear CTAs, and more all help people to find what they’re looking for and hang around longer.
Keep online contact forms small
Ever tried to buy something online only to be bombarded with requests for information? It can be very off-putting and all too easy just to click away.
Yes, you need some info from your users, especially those making a sale, but let’s not turn it into the Spanish Inquisition.
Keep forms small and simple, get the bare minimum and then let customers move on. You’ll find this increases conversion and reduces bounce rate.
Call to actions
We mentioned CTAs in an above point. Calls to action are the buttons and links that allow people to skip to the page they want – or rather, the place that you want them to end up. This might be a sales page, it might be a contact form, but whatever it is, you need to make sure these are visible, and front and centre on every page.
The last thing you need is to lose a potential sale because a user can’t find the button to take them to the contact form. Knowing where to put these buttons is a skill, but one that could have a big impact on your business.
The same goes for contact information. Make sure that your phone number, email address, or any other contact info is easy to find. You might consider having a chat function that lets people ask you questions directly. In short, make it as easy as possible.
Blog
Having a blog on your site is a great way to consolidate all the above. It’s a rich source of information for new customers, it helps to keep content fresh and new and you can use it to include links and CTAs.
You can include helpful infographics and it’s another tool to make your site more visible, both to search engines and across social media. You don’t have to blog every day or even every week, but regular updates can have a big impact.
Making any or all of the above changes might help to make your website and your business more recession-proof. So, do it now before the effects start to be felt, giving yourself the best chance of coming out the other side.
To find out more about what it'seeze Web Design Windsor can do to help, why not take a look at our recent projects, or get in touch with a member of our team. We look forward to hearing from you.
Tagged as: web design
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