If you're like many local business owners, you may think that there's no reason to take your bricks and mortar store online. After all, you do business locally...you don't sell on the internet. Well, you may want to rethink your strategy. More and more customers are expecting businesses, even local ones, to have an online presence. And more and more local businesses are using the internet to stay in touch with their customers, and alert them to special events and deals. Luckily, it's easier than ever to create a website, and local business web design doesn't have to be flashy to be effective. Read on for some basic tips.
1. Keep it small. Unless you are actually selling online, your website should only be a few pages long. A Home page, an About Us page, a Services page and a Contact page is usually enough for most local businesses.
2. Keep it concise. Your content should cover the basics: your business name, who you are, where you are, what you do, who you do it for, and why you are different and/or better than your competition. Summarize your business on the Home page, and use the other pages to expand further.
3. Keep it simple. For a local business, web design should be consistent with the look of your bricks and mortar store. Use the same colours and fonts as your business card or signage. A plain background colour, basic fonts and some pictures of your shop, your staff and (if applicable) your products or examples of your services will suffice.
4. Keep it friendly. Too often, local businesses go online and suddenly start sounding like a large corporation. You don't have to use formal terminology (unless it applies to your business)...create a relationship with your customers and visitors by keeping the tone conversational and light.
5. Keep it easy. Make sure it is easy for visitors to contact you by including detailed contact information on every page, either in the top header or the bottom footer. Include an email form on your Contact page, so people can fill it in and send it off to you without having to open up their email program.
If you're hesitant to create your own website for your local business, web design services can be had for a nominal fee. Check around with local colleges, or call local designers to see what they would charge for a simple, small site. But, doing it yourself is easier than you think! There are many easy-to-use web design tools suitable for local businesses, and you don't need to know any programming or HTML to use them.
For your local business, web design is easier than you think! Follow these basic tips, and you will be online in no time.
Web design have become very important part of every business. If you do not have a face on the web, for sure you a loosing a lot of customers.
ReplyDeleteThe "right" web design and functionality are very important for every company. This can help expand the market and build brand.
ReplyDeleteLocal businesses definitely need websites and need to be listed in Google maps. It is a fact that geo localized strategy can achieve results much faster than if you go broad.
ReplyDelete