Top 7 Small Business Website Resolutions for 2014

If you’re a small business owner, you know we are always looking for ways to improve and grow our businesses. What better way to implement new strategies than for the new year!

Check out the Top 7 Small Business Website Resolutions for 2014 shared to us by Dudamobile:

Small business owners have a big year ahead of them in 2014. Most are
refueling their staff count or tightening their budgets, but having an
effective business website should be a top priority. After all, 86.6% of
US SMBs cite websites as their most important digital marketing tactic.
Optimizing your website could be the difference between a customer doing
business with you or abandoning you for the competition. We’ve compiled
our Top 7 SMB Website Resolutions for 2014, to help business owners take
charge and fulfill their website goals in the new year.

1.) Optimize Discoverability. What good is your business and website if
no one can find you? It’s critical that businesses maximize SEO, so that
your site is showing up in searches, with the highest ranking possible.
You need your users to interact with your website efficiently. This is
achieved by optimizing a variety of different elements right on the
homepage, including useful, easy to read buttons and links as Click to
Call, a proper address and business hours. Last but certainly not least,
remember that fresh and consistent content will also bring more people to
your site and raise your site’s ranking dramatically.

2.) Make your Website Multi-Screen Ready. Beyond being mobile-friendly,
your new site should look good on every device. Whether displayed on a
desktop, tablet, smartphone or even web-enabled TV, you want your website
to look awesome and tailor it to the specific needs and user habits
associated with each type of screen.

3) Get Smarter by Tapping in other Content Platforms. Pull information or
features from existing web services like Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter,
Yelp, Locu, etc. to maximize the performance and effectiveness of your
site. Also, leverage SoMoLo technology to know more about your visitors
and tailor their experiences accordingly.

4.) Simplify Web Management. Find a platform that helps you manage your
site easily, with web editing tools, design templates, resources for
marketing, etc. A central place that allows you to edit all of your
websites when needed is important to minimize maintenance and encourage
constant changes.

5.) Make sure your Customers can Reach you. Obviously, a phone number and
address on your website is very important for in-person visits and
customer service, but a simple contact form can also be used for feedback
to improve your website and fix tedious customer flows. Actually
listening to your customers and constantly improving your website will
lead to regular and fresh content that’ll keep your customers coming
back. Build loyalty and your customers will soon become evangelists of
your brand.

6.) Make your Website Easy on the Eyes. When a visitor arrives at your
site, it’s important to capture their attention within the first few
seconds. Design and navigation is a huge part of this. Information should
be easy to find, understand and optimized for all devices. New visitors
are also more likely to interact if the site is visually appealing. Make
sure your photographs and logo are high-quality and consistent with your
site’s color scheme. Don’t forget to make sure your website loads quickly
too.

7.) Highlight CTAs on the Homepage. Quite possibly the most important
best practice for optimizing your business website, highlighting CTAs or
call-to-actions makes it crystal clear to the viewer what you want them
to do. This includes emphasis on certain buttons and using an active verb
in your CTA such as (Try It!, ŒBuy Now!, Sign Up!, Donate!, Play for
free! and others…)

If you put these resolutions in action next year, you’ll be ahead of your
competitors. Your customers, existing and new, will thank you, too!

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DISCLOSURE: NO CONNECTION, UNPAID, NOT MY OWN
I have not received any compensation for posting this content. The views expressed in this guest blog do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of HJMT. Individual links could be associated with affiliate marketing sites and through the use of affiliate links contained herein, I may collect fees from purchases made.
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