This is the time when digital technology thrives and dominates our world. Hence, having a website is just as important as having a physical store, office, or phone number. Why wait for customers to come to your store when they can browse your website from the comfort of their homes? Strikingly offers easy-to-build websites that do not require coding, and you can create one in minutes! In this article, we'll talk about why you should include a website in your business plan and why Strikingly is the perfect partner for building one.
But before we jump the gun, let's discuss the factors you need to consider in building a successful website that will generate income for your business.
What Makes a Website Successful?
1. Definite Objectives
The nagging question of how to make a successful website should be answered by defining your objectives. A successful website opens the door to many possibilities, regardless of operating on a limited budget and doing the best you can with your web presence or having an enterprise-level business. The first step to a successful website design is knowing what message you want to get across. If you still need to decide your goals or objectives, determining the distinction between the two is an excellent place to start. A website's purpose might serve as its effective plan. What, for instance, is the primary goal of your website? Is the website created simply to market goods? Can the site visitors purchase from the website? Or is it just a place to give information? It can be a lot of things; therefore, determining the overarching aims of your website is a fantastic beginning block in discovering your goals and building a successful website.
Image taken from Sourdough Against the System
2. Uniqueness
As the famous phrase says, "Be a unicorn in a field of horses"; the key is to stand out. To create a successful website design amidst the billions of websites out there, you have to make yours exceptional. Strikingly is the perfect fit to start your online presence because we offer different templates to help you build a successful website for your business. Our site editor is so easy to use, plus you can edit and re-arrange the sections to fit the design you have in mind.
Here are some of the things that you need to take into account in building a unique successful website:
- Practice minimalism. While your website's aesthetics are unquestionably significant, most visitors aren't checking it out to see how sleek the design is. They seek to accomplish a task or gain a particular piece of knowledge. To have a successful website design, discard unnecessary design components or those that have no functional purpose. It will only confuse visitors and make it more challenging to achieve their goals. Simplicity is your best bet from the viewpoint of usability and user experience. This principle applies to the colors, fonts, and images you will upload to your website. Check out Strikingly's template page to choose from the variety of templates that you can edit to suit your business needs.
- Be consistent. Having the same look and feel for your website improves usability and user experience in areas like the navigation menu, color schemes, backgrounds, call to action button, and your writing style. Not every page needs to have a similar layout, though. What you can do is design a distinct layout for particular pages (e.g., landing page, blog, checkout page, etc.). Your site visitors will find it simpler to recognize what kind of material they will come across on a specific page if you use those layouts consistently. Strikingly has different templates, but the sections are present across all the designs, which you can tweak according to your taste.
- Use a custom domain name. A custom domain that your visitors can easily remember contributes to the uniqueness of your website. You can promote brand consistency by using a custom domain that accurately represents your company. When your brand name is present in the domain, visitors won't have to guess whether the website they are viewing is related to your business or not.
Image taken from Pretty Olive Interiors
3. Credibility
Following website standards will establish your website's legitimacy. In other words, it raises the impression of trust visitors have in your website. Credibility also helps a lot when creating a website that offers the finest user experience possible.
A pricing page link from the homepage is better than having your customers reach out to you to ask for the price of a single item on your website. List item costs plainly on your website so that consumers can discover more about pricing without contacting you. This saves them a lot of hassle and will entice more customers to browse your website to see what your store offers.
Being open and truthful about the goods and services you're selling is one of the effective ways to boost your credibility. Don't make your visitors rake through numerous pages to discover what you're selling. On your webpage, be honest and allot space to describe the value of what you do.
4. Consumer-Centered
An excellent customer website should make it easy for users to obtain the information they require and should effortlessly guide them through the purchasing process. You can design fluid contact points to give your customers a pleasant experience by understanding their journey as a customer. When thinking about how to create a successful website, some important factors to consider are easy navigation, clear calls to action, modern design, and mobile friendliness. Conducting research to identify the requirements and preferences of your target audience is essential. And captivating your audience is one of the secret ingredients in conceiving a successful website design.
Image taken from Fighting Pretty
5. Customer Feedback
You can use analytical techniques to determine your typical customer, how they found you, their preferences, and how to best tailor your company to increase website sales. With Strikingly websites, you can create custom forms to gather these kinds of data to help you better understand how your web presence affects your brand. The data you collect from the custom forms can even identify possibilities to change the fundamental business operations of your organization, like branch operating hours, special events, and product promotions.
6. Uptime
Ensure that your site is always operational. If you want to secure a shot at a successful website, you have to ensure that all the elements on your website are working. This is not limited to your page being up all the time; you also have to check if all the buttons, links, forms, and embedded applications are up and running. You might not notice that a portion of your audience is running into trouble if all you are doing is watching sales statistics and uptime monitoring. When they can't buy or access the stuff they want, many people won't look you up or get in touch with you; instead, they'll go.
Now that we've tackled the factors that make a website successful, let's dive into why you should include a website in planning your business.
Why a Website Should be Included in Business Planning
1. Establishes an online presence.
Do you know that 56% of individuals said they could not trust a company without a website? This means a reliable website can dramatically increase your ability to conduct business legitimately. By establishing your presence online, you'll learn who is familiar with your company, where customers and potential clients can know more, can your website convey your brand's value proposition. It also defines your company as a thriving business and project professionalism, as well as widens your scope to reach people around the globe. Building a successful website is like putting your company's name in neon lights for the world to see.
2. Reaches a broader audience.
Having a physical store attracts customers, and you're probably happy with the number of clients you have right now. However, consumer turnover happens in any business. For instance, many stores opted for online selling as a substitute for commercial spaces during the pandemic. When unforeseen circumstances occur, you must draw in new clients to ensure continuing success, and the fastest way to do this is by increasing your visibility online. Your customer will no longer be limited to the people around your area, but it will stretch as far as the other side of the world.
With Strikingly, you can build an online store, connect to a payment gateway, and start selling! If you sign up with the Pro plan, you can list up to 300 products and sell physical or digital products and offer services. Best of all, your website is up 24/7, even when you're not.
3. Builds trust with product reviews.
An innovative strategy to generate social proof is proudly showcasing your top product reviews or creating a blog for testimonials on your website. A successful website must provide social evidence and establish your company's legitimacy. Reviews tell potential clients that you have something to offer and take your business seriously. You must admit that you're likelier to purchase from a company with an established reputation than one without.
Here at Strikingly, you can showcase product reviews to build trust among your clients and site visitors. Start converting visitors to customers!
4. Online resources boost customer service.
Since straightforward consumer inquiries are available on your website, prospective clients do not need to contact you to inquire about the location, business hours, or any other details you can include on your page. Having crucial information on your website gives a pleasant experience for your customers.
Image taken from Strikingly Help Center
5. Gives lasting value.
What other forms of advertising exist that, after a single payment, keep generating business for you forever? Hardly any. One of the best things about having a website is you own it permanently, and it keeps working for you even when you sleep. When you purchase a slot for a newspaper or magazine advertisement, you receive it and any benefits it brings, but after that, it is over. The same principle applies to Google Adwords, Facebook ads, LinkedIn ads, etc.
A successful website gives you an edge over your competitors. It's cheap and will last a lifetime. With Strikingly's robust website-building platform, it is the perfect partner in building a successful website that can bring money to your business.
