5 Things Every Business Website Needs Get the most out of your small business website

Small business owners are authorities in their chosen field -- and while this expertise consists of a motley assortment of skills, it often doesn't include website design and development prowess. Owners can spend more time running their business and less time worrying about their website with a basic understanding of the five things every small business website should include.

Professionally Designed Showcase

Your website is often the first contact most people have with your business. This fact means that it is necessary to have a professionally designed website that instills a sense of trust in potential customers. If you walked into a dirty restaurant or a sloppy clothing store, you might form a bad impression of those places. The same is true for broken or outdated websites. Seek out a modern, clean design with a clean user experience (UX). The site should appear without error on mobile devices and across various browsers.

Contact Management and CRM

Once you've captured the attention of customers, it's important to keep your relationship with them alive. Doing so is easy when your site integrates contact management software that allows you to capture information like your customers' names, email addresses, and home addresses.

Additionally, customer relationship management software is important because it allows you to track and analyze consumer behavior on your website. With this information you can create targeted marketing campaigns geared at customers with a variety of interests.

Appointment Scheduling

If your business relies on making appointments with clients, such as a contractor, accountant, or doctor's office, appointment scheduling can ease the burden of hiring special staff to book appointments by phone. Instead, clients can book appointments themselves using an online appointment scheduler on your website. The scheduler even sends automatic appointment reminders so that missed or forgotten appointments become a rarity.

Acceptance of Online Payments and Discounts

If you're selling goods or services via your website, you'll want the option to accept payment from a variety of sources, like credit cards and PayPal. You'll also want to offer customers flexibility by offering partial payments, online discounts, and more.

Advertising Optimization

Many savvy small business owners create online advertising campaigns using sources like Google AdWords. Your website should offer advertising optimization software that tracks and analyzes the performance of your ad campaigns. This knowledge helps you adjust your campaigns to eliminate their shortcomings, or continue them when they're successful.

It's possible to launch a business website that incorporates all of these features when you use a website building platform to get the job done. A platform, like Ocoos, offers professionally designed sites with integrated e-commerce features. All technology and updates are handled behind-the-scenes so small business owners are never responsible for juggling website maintenance in addition to running their business.