First off, let’s get this out of the way now; while some people have been successful having nothing more than a landing page, it is my opinion that if you’re going to have a long-term business, you will eventually need a business website. Now, there’s a big difference between having a business website and having an effective one. Quality, efficient websites will be inclusive of four key things. If you currently have a business website or are in the process of creating one, take a look at the following four elements below to see if you’re covering all bases.

Speed 

Fast websites are the best websites. In fact, there’s an abundance of research that indicates that slow websites rarely outperform faster ones. If users are waiting around for more than a second or two, they become impatient and leave. We all do this ourselves; a slow loading website just seems unprofessional these days. With so much technology out there, there’s no excuse to have a site that doesn’t load almost instantly.

SEO 

Search engine optimization is an essential component of any website. SEO will help you become more visible in Google search results. You need to target specific keywords and search queries, and the better your SEO is, the higher up the results you will appear. In turn, more users see your site in the results, meaning more people click your link, flooding your site with more traffic. However, SEO is a complex subject and many things factor into whether yours is proficient or not. The good news is that you can obtain a free website checkup from so many different sources online, which will tell you how good your SEO is. With these results, at least you can understand where you’re going wrong, and what needs to improve, for your SEO to improve.

Site Design

Naturally, the way your site is designed plays a major role in how people perceive your business. If your web design is outdated, then your company brand is affected. Ensure that you follow modern web design trends, so your site looks professional and fluid, but yet unique. Mobile optimization is also critical. If you don’t have a version of your site designed for mobile devices, then you’ll struggle to gain mobile traffic.

Security

Finally, the security of your site is paramount, yet often overlooked especially by new entrepreneurs. If your business website captures personal information from your customers, then it needs to be secure. It’s so easy to encrypt your connection so that there is optimum security. Consumers can tell when a site is secure because it starts with HTTPS instead of just HTTP. Also, Google Chrome and other web browsers often alert you if a site is secure or not. If you are offering services on your website, but are directing customers to another site, i.e., Paypal to complete the purchase, this is likely to be less of an issue.

Now, having reviewed the above four areas, how does your site fare? Is your business website effective or ineffective? Is it fast, with excellent SEO ranking, a fantastic design, and sufficient security? If so, then well done, you’ve found the secret to a successful and efficient business website. If not, then work on your site until you have improved in the above areas and don’t be too prideful to ask for an get help to assist you. Good luck!

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