As a new startup business, building momentum in your launch with customers is a critical element to ensure your launch is successful. Your company website is a big part of that, so you’ll want to give it the attention it deserves. Many small businesses make the mistake of starting with a very simple website, often just a single page site, with plans to expand that later as the business grows. This can be a big mistake since you only have one chance to make a first impression on a new customer. Using your website to showcase your business as a real player in the market is much more effective in attracting customers.
Attractive Web Design
The first rule of a successful website is that it is attractive to the customer. In order to maintain the attention of a customer, any disorganized elements such as clunky navigation, misaligned content, inconsistent font usage, etc. should be avoided. A website should be polished and professional in appearance in order to have the maximum positive impact on potential customers. Pay close attention to your initial logo design with an eye toward the future, since changing your logo later can negatively impact the visibility you have built with customers. A poorly laid-out website with typos and disorganized content is a key sign to potential customers that a business is not ready for prime time.
Meaningful Content
Ensuring that there is something of interest for customers on your website is very important for maintaining engagement and establishing credibility for your business in the minds of customers. Showcasing current blog posts relevant to your industry is a great way to keep your content fresh and meaningful. If you don’t have time to write your own blog posts, many tools are available for integrating content from RSS feeds directly into your website.
Interactive Tools
Proving interesting interactive elements on your website can be a great way to attract customer attention. Examples of interactive elements would include things like providing online calculator tools, layout and design tools, mapping tools, or anything else relevant in your industry that a customer would perceive value in. This type of content is also helpful for internet search engine optimization of your site.
Links To Social Media
Ensuring your startup has an active and cohesive social media strategy can be a critical element of success, particularly in any retail consumer industry. Many companies today find the majority of their customer interaction takes place on social media so you’ll want to ensure that your company’s social media presence is well planned and fresh. Your company website should have prominent and current links to your social media accounts, and depending on the nature of your social content you may also want to have a live feed from your Facebook or Instagram accounts set up for customers to view right on your website. This can really help generate likes and engagement for your social content, and is another tool for linking the customer with your business.
Complete Business Profile
One area where many startups miss the mark on their initial website design is ensuring that the website provides a complete profile of the business. Look at established competitor websites in your market and take note of the major content areas present on the sites. Create an overall profile of which content all of your competitors have in common and make sure your website has all of the same content. As customers browse across competitor websites, you want to ensure that your company presents the full picture and isn’t missing something that a consumer may interpret as a red flag for your business due to it being missing.
Building a presence with potential customers is a high priority for any new startup, and it all starts with the presence in the market you create with your website. Ensuring it is attractive and complete, as well as modern and interactive, will help ensure that you build momentum in the market and grow your business.
