If you have ever been to a website, taken a look at it, and then realized that you didn’t want to spend money there because it did not look “legitimate”, then you know exactly how a customer feels when they come across a website that does not cut it on professional standards. If your website does not look professional, then you can pretty much guarantee that you are going to lose customers, and that is NOT a good thing for your website, no matter what kind of business you are in.
In order to make sure people stay, you need to make sure that your website is up to par with what people like, what they want, and what they feel comfortable with. Here is a little checklist so that you can test your website, and find out how professional it is.
Does your background consist of a color other than white?
If it does, you should seriously consider changing it. Most successful websites have a white background with purpose in mind, and that is because white backgrounds not only make it easier to see, but they also communicate emotions like purity, grace, tranquility, and cleanliness. They also help the lettering to really stand out, so try to keep your background white if at all possible.
As far as design goes, do you use a lot of bright colors?
If you do, then you might want to think about some other choices. Bright colors distract from the purpose of your site, and they also need time for your eyes to adjust to. You might not have a ton of bright colors, but if it is enough that you need to refocus your eyes just to read the letters, then you will probably lose traffic because of it. Instead of bright colors, think of dark blues, greens, grays, or other neutral colors like this. Then, have your logo be bright and “out there” for the biggest effect. If your entire page is bright pink, that is probably bad. But if your page is white and blue, with a big pink heart at the top with your logo on it, then it will be eye catching without being too distracting.
Is your business contact information visible?
Contact information is vital. Try to keep your contact information above the fold and visible for any potential client or customer. Sometimes, customers are looking for contact information to make a call to speak with someone. Having the phone number listed above the fold is a great way to put your information in front of as many eyes as possible.
Also, try not to use bold colors out of your website’s color scheme. A call to action like “Call us today for your no hassle free quote” or something along those line will work just fine. You don’t want to have too many different colors that don’t match your color scheme.
Do you have testimonials on your website?
Lets face it, testimonials build trust. Especially if the testimonial is from a reliable source like Yelp.com or merchantcircle.com. If so, list a brief quote of the testimonial then link to the actual review website with the anchor text “read full review”. Add several reviews to build trust and give your potential prospect peace of mind about buying your product or service.
Will your website rank well online?
I know this last point doesn’t have much to do with design but, whats the point of having a beautiful website if no one can find it? Make sure you do your keyword research for the top long tail keywords you want to rank for. Then optimize your website for those keywords and other broad keywords within your niche market.
Use our free online SEO website grader tool to see how your website scores in basic on-site optimization. Our free tool will create a report of various SEO data that is included or missing. This will help guide you in optimizing your website for the web.
Try to keep all these things in mind when you are designing your web page, and you might start to notice that your website looks more and more professional.
Need a website but don’t know where to start? Do you currently have a website or blog but need a marketing strategy? Do you know your target audience and do you know how to reach them? Rank High Solutions is a Los Angeles Web Design and SEO company that offers top of the line consulting services to small businesses.