5 Tips to Take Your Website From Good to Great

5 Tips to Take Your Local Site from Good to Great

 

Websites are standard for local businesses these days. Which makes sense when looking at our 2021 Local Moms Online Survey that found 84% of moms visit a local business' website when evaluating their local options.  But it also means that just having a website is not enough to set you apart.  

We've worked with thousands of local businesses over the years and have found that most local businesses have good websites.  But a handful of businesses have really great ones.  How do you take your site from good to great?

5 KEYS TO AN AMAZING LOCAL WEBSITE

1. Make it Mobile Optimized
Moms use their phones to do just about everything these days.  Our 2021 survey indicates that 88% of moms access the internet from their mobile devices.  Every great website is mobile optimized.  

Mobile-friendliness isn't just about making it easy for customers either.  Search engines like Google use the mobile version of your site to evaluate your position in search engine rankings so it's critical for your overall marketing success.

✔️ TO DO - Check the mobile-friendliness of your site by using a free tool like this one from Google: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

2. Keep it Current
This might seem obvious, but you've got to keep your site updated.  When a mom finds your site and discovers events from two months ago or class registration that closed last week, it's a huge turn-off. 

✔️ TO DO -  Make it a habit to check your website each week to be sure all content is up to date and accurate.

3. Design for Quick Load Speed
According to a recent article by Neil Patel, 47% of consumers expect a website to load within two seconds.  If you want a great website that encourages users to stick around, you need to be sure it loads quickly.  

✔️ TO DO - check your own page load speed using Google's free tool,  PageSpeed Insights

4. Include a Call to Action
What do you want users to do when they arrive at your website?  What is your primary goal for a potential customer?  Sign up for a free trial?  Register for a class?  Make a purchase?  

Including an easy-to-find and easy-to-understand call to action on your site (above the fold - no scrolling necessary) will boost your conversion rate.  

✔️ TO DO - consider the conversion you most want your website users to take and add an obvious call to action button (or two) to your site.

5. It's All About the White Space
There are so many great things going on in your business but putting every single one on your website isn't a great idea.  When it comes to website design, it's all about keeping things uncluttered and leaving a lot of white space.

✔️ TO DO - Take a look at your site.  Do you have too much text?  Too many design elements?  Does it feel crowded or chaotic?  Might be time to rethink your copy and overall design.  Even breaking the text up into shorter paragraphs or adding bullet points can help.  

Taking your local website from good to great probably won't require a total redesign.  Making small, incremental changes like adding call-to-action buttons, adding white space, and optimizing graphics for loading speed can have a huge effect.  

WATCH A LOCAL WEBSITE REVIEW

Looking for more local website advice and information?  Check out this clip of a website review we performed recently for a business in the Members Club, our membership community just for local businesses that market to parents.  

We review what's great (and what's not so great) about this local site and offer tips for improvement that can benefit any business.

Ready to take your local website from good to great?  Put these five simple tips into action today and soon you might see better engagement and more conversions online.