The internet continues to change at a rapid pace as people find new ways to access and browse the ever expanding content. Search engines use extremely different methods to rank pages than they did a decade ago. To succeed, business websites need increased optimization, features and content than ever before. You can greatly increase traffic and revenue by incorporating these five must-haves into your company’s website:
- Mobile Compatibility. Marketing Land reports that major websites receive 56% of their hits from mobile devices. To provide a positive user experience, it’s crucial to design your website for a wide range of devices. Many potential customers quickly go elsewhere if they encounter frustrating website designs that make navigation difficult. Google also gives companies better visibility in organic search results when they have mobile-friendly websites. Google’s current algorithm also prefers responsive designs to separate mobile and desktop content.
- Unique Call-to-Action. Although strong, clear CTAs greatly increase sales, many businesses still don’t incorporate them into their websites. Marketing writers must find the right balance between weak and pushy messages, according to Entrepreneur magazine. They often achieve the best results by using urgent statements that call for quick action. Remember to supply multiple contact methods to your web visitors. If you only let people dial a phone number or mail a form, they might go to a competitor with more, convenient options.
- Fresh and Exclusive Material. Google penalizes duplicate content on your website. If your website primarily supplies material users can find elsewhere on the web, your ranking can suffer. Be sure to create insightful or entertaining content people will want to read and share. Consider offering attractive photos, engaging articles or integrated video footage. Provide social media links to make it easy for people to share appealing content easily on Facebook and Twitter.
- Reduced Scrolling. Some experts from IT World predict a shift toward low- or no-scroll websites by the end of 2017. Users often become annoyed when they repeatedly need to scroll in multiple directions to find website content. This has become a more prevalent issue as more people use devices with small displays, such as tablets, netbooks and smartphones. Designers can work toward the goal of eliminating unnecessary clutter and creating pages that automatically respond to users’ screens.
- Sophisticated Security. Cyber-attacks continue to rapidly increase. Almost 50 percent of hacks targeted relatively small companies during 2015, according to The Telegraph. Insurance Journal also reports that attacks directed at financial service providers increased by about 56 percent in 2016. It’s crucial for businesses to use HTTPS and take steps to maximize the security of online databases. An extra bonus for ensuring website security is that Google typically assigns higher search rankings to secure websites.
To sum it up, a commercial website must accommodate a variety of mobile devices, prioritize security and offer genuinely valuable content to remain competitive online. Do you need help establishing a recognizable brand? AdvisorPR develops highly effective marketing materials for professionals in the finance sector. We help companies improve public relations and gain exposure through relevant media outlets. To learn more about how AdvisorPR can help your business grow and succeed, call us today (866) 888-5333 or email us at Info@advisorpr.com.
