9 Essential things to have on your website - Thomas Web Designs

Are you currently building your website and wondering what a website should have? Or has it been up and running online for years but you’re looking at revamping it? I have been creating websites for my clients for over 10 years now and from my experience I have come up with a list of 9 Essential things to have on your website that are often missed..

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

 1.Your location. I see this often, many websites especially online and work from home businesses, they don’t include their location. I work from home, however, I still have that I’m located in Goulburn NSW on my website. Why?

This is part of your local SEO.

 

It’s so easy to start local, most people trust and prefer local businesses. This doesn’t mean you have to put your full address down. Let’s say you’re looking for a new dress for a function. You jump online to find a local shop and type in dress shop Goulburn (or wherever you’re located) and wham you check out the first 3 shops.  If you are not using your location as part of some of your keywords then you won’t show up. This doesn’t mean you just have to serve your local area. If you serve all of Australia, then simply add a sentence, “Located in Goulburn but servicing Australian everywhere from Sydney to Melbourne, Tasmania to Queensland.”

 2.Social links & Shares. If you are not on facebook then you’re definitely missing out on potential clients, but that’s for another day. I know I like to stay connected and remember businesses so I always follow and share them through facebook. There are other people that prefer twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc So make sure you are on at least have one social media account for your business that is linked to your website and that potential customers have the ability to share your products and services. This is more free advertising for you if someone shares one of your cool products.

3.Opt in/ Call of Action/ Newsletter/ Email funnel Sequence. A lot of people don’t buy from you the first time, they might look at your website, remember some awesome product then leave. 6 months later they think about that product but have totally forgotten your business. They search for your products but a similar item comes up and they buy that. That could have been your sale! If you have an opt in/ call of action button for them to get a 10% discount for first time buyers or a free guide, etc and then regularly send them out weekly or monthly newsletters through an email funnel sequence.

That means your business will keep popping up in their head so when they are ready to buy that product, they know exactly where to find it from.- You.

I personally recommend Mailerlite as an email marketing platform.

 

4.Privacy Policy These are actually required by law, if you collect personal data from users such as name, email, address etc from newsletter sign ups, online contact form, shopping cart etc. In fact, search engine companies such as google say that they will place a website with a privacy policy above one that doesn’t have one so I would say it’s essential. I personally recommend Emma from “The Remote Expert” she’s been a lawyer for 19 years. Get in touch.

5.Terms & Conditions A Terms and Conditions agreement are a set of regulations which users must agree to follow in order to use your services. There are actually 2 different Terms and Conditions agreements you need for your website. ‘Online terms and conditions’ (or Website or Terms of Use, or Disclaimer.)  and ‘Sales Terms and Conditions’ (or Service Agreement, Business Terms etc) I have outlined the differences of these on my Website Checklist.

6.Get Testimonials. A great way for a potential customer to read what clients already think about you and, will give them more confidence to buy your product or service if they can read testimonials from other people. 

7.Search Tool- If a person can’t find what they are looking for then they are more likely to leave your website if you don’t have a search tool on your site. I search tool allows customers to use keywords to search what they are looking for.

8.Contents– Having a clear focus of who you are, what you do and how you can help your ideal customer is essential so your website visitors get a feel to see if you’re a good fit. Also using high-quality images and adding regular updates, information or a blog will help you rank high in search engines. Remembers it’s all about thinking of your customer first and then how can you solve the problem they are needing fixed.

9.About us/ you page. Yes it’s scary as hell to put yourself out there. I have spent over 9 years being hidden away, not wanting anyone to know my name or what I look like. But if someone connects with you then they are more likely to use and recommend you in business. So add a photo and include how you go started in business, your experience and even a little info about your hobbies, fav food etc.

Things to have on your website Summary

If you have a wordpress website then jump in now and add any of the above missing components of these essential things to have on your website. However if you don’t have time or have no idea how to edit your website (even if it’s not wordpress) then I’m more than happy to help. Check out my editing and training services.

Bonus

These 9 essential Things to have on your website is just a few things you need. Talk to us about a Website planner what to put on a website for business, also check out 13 Must-Have Small Business Website Pages: Do You Have Them All? – By Digital.com and 20 Things Your Website Should Do and 5 Things It Shouldn’t.

About Me

I’m Jacinta Thomas, also known as your humble wordpress web design tech whiz and online marketing consultant.

I’m a reserved yet highly motivated and adaptable digital marketing expert ready to use my online marketing knowledge to help your business be seen online and ramp up your sales. I love horses, dogs, cats, country music, chocolate and most of all helping people.

I help family focused entrepreneurs build top ranking, self-managed websites, help work through any wordpress tech issues and get set up with hosting, blogging, SEO and social media, so they can earn more money and live their dream life.

If you’re ready to get your business online, and seen on social media and all search engines then check out my blog, biz resources, jump into my free Facebook group and of course contact me at any time.

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