Whenever I visit my local holiday market, I am surprised by how many small businesses fail to appear in today's digital world. They often forget that customers rely on the internet to engage with their brand and effectively make re-occurring purchases no matter where they seem to be in the world.

Part of the business internet neglect comes from the fear that building their online presence will take too much time, money, and effort. Today we're here to debunk this myth and show you how the most basic website can help you boost revenue for your business all year round by following these three simple key website components.

Happy Holidays,

Lindy Nowak - founder and CEO of Up in a Day™

1. Be transparent

Your messaging must be clear, concise, and easy to digest. Within moments of your customer's shopping experience, you should be able to explain what you will do for them. Remember, online stores don't have sales associates to demonstrate their passion for your product, so you must get this feeling across on your home page right away.

People are looking for solutions, not more problems to worry about. They're busy, and they may be tired of searching, so when they arrive on your website, you want them to say… "Thank goodness! I finally found someone that makes yoga boards for carpeted apartments. I am buying this right away." Or so on, and so forth.

2. Get to the catch

No one likes to feel like a lost puppy walking around a department store. The chances are that if your customer is having this same experience on your website, you're going to lose them to Amazon or any of your competitors that appear higher on Google search.

Your customers want the answer fast. There's no one-size-fits-all answer to how long people stay on the home page of your site. Anytime over 2 minutes is pretty great, and anything between 1-2 minutes is about what people spend for niche sites. So come up with a hook that your customers won't be able to resist, and you'll start seeing conversions right off the bat.

3. Give them something to think about

Keep your content simple and stick to imagery and copy that shows who you are as a brand. Apply an attractive image or illustration to your homepage. Photos of people do wonders! So do infographics. Think about what is most important for your audience to know about you. Perhaps you're a skateboarding company making boards out of sustainable materials, or you're a clothing company donating 5% of your profits to a non-profit organization.

Maybe you're a restaurant growing everything cooked at your restaurant on your family's farm. Whatever kind of business you are, keep your messaging short, sweet, and maybe use a bulleted list for your features and benefits. Avoid anything too busy, colorful, or loud. Leave lots of white space with easy, digestible, ah-ha language.

Does your business need a new website or a website upgrade? Schedule a Consultation