Your website is one of the first things that your potential clients will see so it’s very important that your website increases your business credibility and does not tear it down.
Accurate Information — Your website should have accurate information on it and not old stats and information that can cause question about your integrity. Ensure that you update stats, update links, and make sure your information is accurate as possible.
Real Business — Have a real business name in the footer or header or both of your website. It is important that you follow all the rules of business including getting a business license in your state, city or county if required. The only way you can know for sure is to ask your local small business resource center, often located at a community college or via the chamber of commerce.
Domain Name — Choose a domain name that is indicative of your business and not full of hype. A site name like TwentyMillionaMonth.com would not be a very credible website. Your domain name should be thought about and something that your target market would appreciate and matches your niche. It should also be a full domain name and not a sub domain on a free blogging service.
Clear Copy — The copy on your website should be clear, honest, and convey to visitors exactly what you want it to say without being over hyped and full of promises you can’t keep.
About You — Include an about me or about you page that discusses your business in full. It should cover your credentials and explain your expertise. If you have more people on your team besides yourself, include them. The more experts you can show that run this business the more credible you will appear.
Contact Information — Include accurate contact information in an easy to find way. Nothing is worse than going to a website or blog and not having any way to contact the owner unless you leave a blog comment. Most people will not buy from someone they cannot contact to ask questions or get support from.
Design & Easy Navigation — Choose colors that do not burn the eyes, and don’t pick a lot of different fonts. While many people new to website design tend to want sites that have a lot of graphics, flash, and “fancy stuff” on them, studies show that more plain sites get more repeat visitors. The site should also be easy to navigate. If it’s confusing and cluttered visitors may have a hard time finding the information they want and leave the page due to confusion.
Up to Date Content — A blog is good for keeping up-to-date content flowing on your website. It is imperative not only for search engines to send you regular visitors, but also for visitors to not decide to abandon the page. You only have a few seconds to impress each new viewer, therefore, it is imperative that they perceive an active, newly updated website. Once a week is the minimum, shoot for three to five times a week if you really want to make money.
Advertisements — If you have a services business it is best not to run any advertising on the website. If you want to run a website for affiliate marketing, Google Adsense revenue or other pay per click revenue then place the ads unobtrusively avoiding flashy cluttered advertising that is too distracting. Viewers become immune to many types of ads and ignore them completely, so it’s best to mix it up using a combination of banner ads, text ads, directory listings and in line ads. The trick is that less is more.
Typos, Grammar, Spelling — This cannot be stressed enough but please double and triple check your grammar and spelling. No you don’t have to be perfect but multiple errors, especially spelling and typos, will cause visitors to click straight off your site never to return.
