A website is not something a small business owner can simply create and then ignore.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what many entrepreneurs do year after year – investing time and money in building a site, only to neglect updating or improving it later on.
This hands-off approach misses key opportunities to connect with customers in our digital world.
The start of a new year is a great time to take a fresh look at your small business website and see how you can improve it. Even without the budget for a complete redesign, small but strategic tweaks and updates can yield tremendous benefits.
A few thoughtful enhancements designed to better resonate with your audience can significantly improve your website’s ability to convert qualified traffic into sales.
So, this year, make your small business website a priority! Leverage this fresh start to implement impactful updates that will pay off as the year unfolds.
Here are 5 powerful yet feasible steps you can take to help your website start strong this year.
5 Ways to Improve Your Small Business Website This Year
Refresh Website Content for Relevance
To ensure your small business website stays current and appealing, regularly refresh your content, especially as your offerings evolve over time.
For e-commerce sites, diligently update product listings that go out of stock.
More broadly, though, swap in new images showcasing any updated packaging, branding, staff members, or office locations.
Introduce new web copy and sections highlighting your latest offerings, specials, and trends you want to promote.
Improve Your Website Performance
A fast, optimized website is pivotal for keeping visitors engaged, so carefully consider your page load speeds and set reasonable goals for improvement if needed – under 2-3 seconds per page is a good target.
Huge images or bloated code often noticeably hamper site performance.
Put yourself in your visitor’s shoes: long load times may prompt them to abandon your site for quicker competitors.
Run diagnostic checks using online tools, such as Google Page Speed Insights, to catch any performance issues.
If you have a website developer that manages your site, provide them the scan results and ask if they can improve performance based on the findings.
Read Also: Why Your Website Needs Technical SEO
Enhance Mobile Optimization
Given the dominance of mobile usage, optimizing your website responsiveness across phones and tablets should be a priority to align with how most customers now view and interact with your site.
Check that text, images, buttons, and links are legible and accessible to touch, and ensure easy site navigation when testing on mobile.
Frustrating experiences like overly small tap targets, cut-off content, or horizontal scrolling could prompt mobile visitors to leave your small business website.
Increase Visual Appeal
Use custom icons, photos, and graphics that demonstrate quality and showcase your unique brand identity to draw visitors’ attention quickly.
Although affordable stock decorative images are available, custom visuals that reflect your specific brand will resonate most with your audience.
Ensure on-brand consistency for all visual elements, including images, videos, and graphics.
Boost SEO
A live website is useless if your target customers can’t find it, so boost SEO by optimizing page content and metadata for relevant search terms and keywords that potential customers use when searching for your products or services.
This helps search engines better understand and rank your content over time.
Committing to refreshing your small business website with updated content, speed improvements, engaging visual media, and targeted SEO sets you up for more qualified traffic and better conversions this year.
Start with 1-2 attainable website development updates each quarter to maintain momentum.
Read Also: When Should I Redesign My Website?
Get Found Online with Lafayette’s Top Web Design & SEO Agency
To drive more customers to your business, partner with our team for results-driven website development and SEO services in Lafayette, LA.
We make it easy for small businesses to create effective online presences that engage more website visitors across all seasons. Connect with our team today to get found online!