A great website is perhaps the most important aspect of marketing a small business, and there are plenty of books, articles, and blogs on how to build a fantastic site. But sifting through all that information can be time consuming at best and highly frustrating at worst, so for many business owners, enlisting the services of a specialized Chicago web design company might be the best choice. However, there are few simple elements that are essential for a high quality small business website, so without further ado:

1. Your Perspective - You are a small business, not a big corporation, so take advantage of that by putting your personality into your website. Being original and highlighting your company’s uniqueness will make your site more memorable.

2. Brand & Identity - Once you’ve created a solid brand and business identity, be sure your website reflects that. A fun and playful brand shouldn’t have a bland, basic website (actually, no one should), but your site should reflect trust and reliability as well as creativity.  Before you hire a firm to develop your site, check out their web design portfolio and make sure they understand branding and your unique concept.

3. Usability & Navigation - All the effort you’ve put into your website is futile if your users can’t find what they need quickly and easily.

4. Freshness - If you have a blog, it should be updated regularly. Not only is it better for your search engine results and search engine optimization, a blog that hasn’t been updated for months is a turnoff for potential clients. You should also post links and quotes from good press your business has received, and any other important company news.

5. Contact Info - Perhaps this seems painfully obvious, but a quick, easy way to contact you - in order to purchase your product or services, or just to get more information - is absolutely essential. Ideally, use a contact form to streamline the process.  One of the reasons that people like working with or purchasing from small businesses is the level of contact and personalization that just doesn’t happen with larger corporations.

Tags: web design, website content

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 10:06 am and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.