Welcome to the third instalment of our three-part series about why your business requires a high-quality website with a diverse range of functionalities. We recommend that you read Why you need a quality website: Part One and Part Two before reading any further, but here’s a brief recap of Part Two.

 A brief recap of Part Two

  • User experience (UX) & user interface (UI)

Users want to access content and complete their desired action without any unnecessary interruptions or cookie-cutter marketing ‘noise’. A Google friendly responsive website with quick-loading pages is non-negotiable in today’s online landscape.

A user interface is the ‘face’ of the website. It provides the user with a look-and-feel consistent with the brand’s core messaging, products and/or services.

  • SEO

Search engine optimisation gives your website an online presence to Google and appears on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Marketing influencer Neil Patel states:

“When you create a website, Google will discover it eventually. The Googlebot systematically crawls the web, discovering websites, gathering information on those websites, and indexing that information to be returned in a search.”

  • Website security

It’s an unfortunate reality that websites can be compromised and suffer data breaches. These attacks commonly target personal data, card information, and passwords.

Here’s a shortened list of the different types of security software a business website needs. Please note: We’ll be taking a deep dive into this topic in an upcoming article.

  • Add encryption software
  • Apply for a web application firewall (WAF)
  • Add bot mitigation software
  • Add HTTPS and an SSL Certificate
  • Use a secure web host

Please read the full article here for the complete list and more information.

 

In this article, we will discuss the off-page business benefits of having a superior quality website.

Gain a strategic advantage over your competitors

More often than not, your website is the first digital component of your business and brand that a prospective customer sees. Therefore, your website needs to leverage your product(s)/service(s) unique selling proposition (USP) quickly and effectively. A few examples include:

 

  • Structure your website correctly

The Nielsen Norman Group conducted a study about how users read websites. They are far more likely to scan the website instead of reading every word. The core determination from the extensive research is that even though there have been seismic technology shifts introducing new layout and design options, users’ eye gaze patterns haven’t changed much during the 13 years in which the study was conducted.

According to the study, “almost all of the gaze patterns observed in 2006 were present in our 2019 study.” They include:

  • F-pattern
  • Layer cake pattern
  • Spotted pattern
  • Commitment pattern
  • Exhaustive review pattern
  • Bypassing pattern
  • Zigzag pattern
  • Sequential pattern
  • Love-at-first-sight pattern
 

  • Contact information

Your audience won’t chase you down. This should be a no-brainer, but many poorly designed websites have minimal contact information; some websites don’t have a contact page at all.

Ensure your website has

  • Physical address
  • Correct email address
  • Phone number(s)
  • Make sure all the links click through to the relevant landing page
  • Links to social pages (Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn) so visitors can follow you and share your brand.

This gives your website credibility in the consumers’ eyes as well as Google. Also, it’s crucial to have a Google My Business profile linked to your website.

 

  • Add a Google My Business profile

Wordstream explains, “Google My Business is a tool that enables you to manage and optimise your Business Profile on Google. A Google My Business account is the only means by which you can claim ownership of your Business Profile, attain management rights to it, and unlock additional free features to increase your visibility on Google.”

A Google My Business Profile also allows users to easily view comments, reviews and ratings about your products and/or services. You should consider showcasing positive reviews and testimonials (especially if they are from industry experts) on your website. This generates social proof.

 

Market to your audience more effectively

  • Know and speak to your audience

What is the purpose of your brand? Who are you targeting? You must have an extensive quantitative and qualitative knowledge of your audience. If not, you’re not going to make sales, gain customer trust, authority and loyalty. In this regard, it’s best to employ content marketing experts who can identify, interpret and measure crucial customer behaviour metrics that determine business performance.

It’s also beneficial speaking to a business consultancy that has access to expert copywriters and content developers.

Read: Our article about the difference between a copywriter and content developer here.

In a nutshell, content development consists of producing valuable, relevant content that educates and solves a problem for your audience.

Copywriting is primarily sales-orientated content such as enticing phrases and direct calls-to-action (CTAs) to persuade the user to perform an action(s) such as subscribing to a newsletter or purchasing a product.

 

  • Prioritise customer experience

Today, your website’s customers’ experience is just as relevant as the product/service and its price point. The combination significantly influences the path to purchase. Delivering a world-class customer experience includes customer-centric marketing such as follow-up emails, newsletters, surveys and a comprehensive customer support system.

 

  • Enhance brand reputation management

Your brand reputation is everything. Make sure you are well-versed in resolution methods. A metric that you can track and always increase is the first contact resolution rate (FCR). Your FCR is the speed at which you resolve complaints or enquiry tickets on the first attempt. For this to be successful, all support staff should have full knowledge about the company’s products/services as well as easy access to content so they can solve the issue(s) as quickly as possible. This also means that easily understandable, appropriate policies and procedures are in place.

 

Conclusion

The quality of your website has a significant impact “off the page,” which subsequently influences on-page signals such as traffic, lead generation and conversions. Ensure that you have all of the abovementioned elements integrated and working cohesively to provide the best customer experience possible.