The evolution of audience targeting and lead generation is rapid, with digital transformation disrupting traditional and offline marketing. Having a business website is a priority numero uno for businesses of all scales. The competition gets hotter for small businesses looking to attract attention and nurture their target audience.
To get things into perspective, 71% of all small businesses have a website, as it builds credibility and helps make a great first impression on the target audience. Moreover, the website itself opens up lead generation and sales channels with a boost in ROI.
Besides building credibility and generating leads, there are other ways having a website can benefit SMBs. A website
- creates a presence and gets listed on search engines.
- adds a trustworthy point of contact with the customers/clients.
- sells products/services
- establishes thought leadership with blogs, whitepapers, etc.
“A great website establishes the business and communicates brand value proposition. It helps SMBs compete in a market dominated by big brands.”
Let’s discuss why having a business website is imperative!
Why Having a Business Website Is Especially Important for SMBs
There are several reasons that make having a website crucial for small & medium-sized businesses.
- Consumers worldwide are shifting to buying products and services online rather than offline due to the convenience it offers. In fact, according to Uberlo, as of 2023, roughly 33.3% of the global population prefers buying online. So, one of every three people around you is an online shopper.
- A well-designed website builds credibility. Around 75% of all consumers say they judge a brand’s credibility based on the website’s design and UI.
- A whopping 97% of people rely on the website design and interface to make buying decisions.
- Consumers engage and interact with brands on mobile devices 2X more than desktops. This highlights the importance of creating a mobile-responsive website.
SMBs that already have a website are making headway toward a larger pool of customers. However, without the right mix of tools and features a website may become a frustrating experience for your audience. So what should companies with limited budgets prioritize when building their websites?
Top Website Development Tips for Small Businesses
Invest in a Secure, Fast & Scalable Hosting
Server hosting is what gets your website on the internet. So, if you are set to build a new website for your new business, make sure you get secure and reliable hosting with close to 100% uptime. You wouldn’t want your website to crash at peak traffic periods and lose potential business.
Ideally, you should opt for unlimited bandwidth for your website hosting to ensure that it can handle traffic surges without crashing. Unlimited bandwidth does not necessarily mean getting a VPS right away since it will be a huge investment for a small business. You should choose a hosting package that offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth instead of 2GB RAM and 100GB space (and so on).
So, opt for a website hosting package that grows with your business needs.
Get SSL Security
You cannot ignore SSL (secure sockets layer) certificates. Gone are the days when only e-commerce websites needed SSL security for their payment pages; nowadays, search engines rank websites based on whether they have SSL or not.
Moreover, SSL (denoted by a little lock sign at the beginning of the URL) gives a sense of reliability to the visitors, ensuring that the data transferred between the website and browser are encrypted. These are the days when you can get an SSL certificate for your website for free from providers such as Let’s Encrypt.
Have a Well-defined Set of Brand Colors on the Website
If you are working on your web design and development for your business, there are a few thumb rules you should know of.
Establish brand guidelines, a list of colors, fonts, and logos that best represent your brand, and stick to it. If your logo is a mix of red and white, your website should ideally consist of red and white on all pages, with black as the font color. Maintain uniformity throughout your website so visitors have a pleasant browsing experience.
Use Reader-friendly Fonts
Another very crucial aspect of website design and development is the font. Whether you opt for small content blocks or large chunks, the text font should be easy to read and not disturb any other elements on the page.
You might want to opt for popular font styles for your website, like
- Helvetica,
- Arial,
- Verdana, etc.
To get more information on web-safe fonts, check out this amazing blog by HubSpot.
Optimize for Mobile Devices
Mobile device optimization can increase your website performance and search engine ranking to a great extent. Irrespective of whether you hire a web design company or get it done in-house, it is critical to ensure all the pages, menu, layout, and other elements are optimized for mobile devices.
According to HubSpot, at the end of 2021, 54.4% of total web traffic was from mobile devices. People use smartphones, tablets, etc., to search for products, services, and information on the go. So, your website should have a user-friendly interface to ensure visitors don’t leave due to poor UX.
Use Plenty of White Space
White spaces give the readers a visual break while processing the design and content. Gaps between elements ensure minimum distractions, making it easier for the visitors to concentrate on the message or story you put forward.
There are different types of white spaces known in website design and development:
- Micro: Space between smaller elements, like letters and lines.
- Macro: Space between graphics, copy, and images.
- Active: Smooth-flowing white space from the top to the CTA button or contact form.
- Passive: White-based texts and graphics.
What’s Next?
Building a captivating website is an involved effort and a significant investment for SMBs. While you may be tempted to make this an in-house project, involving a specialized firm could mean higher search rankings, better UI/UX, and more lead generation for the investment. Paramount specializes in building value-based digital experiences for small and medium businesses looking to leverage cutting-edge technology for business growth.
If you want to know more about website development, or looking to hire a web development company, feel free to connect with us at [email protected]
