Plant the Seeds of Growth in Your Website Now
As business owners, we all know that our websites are crucial to our success in today’s digital age. However, many first-time business owners often only see today as their priority. But, if you want to grow, you have to create a site that can expand as your customer base, products, and offerings do.
Integration
One of your first and arguably most important decisions will be selecting a website that integrates with your current CRM and/or ERP. Your site must communicate and work well with your current processes. Otherwise, you may hit snags, such as duplicate orders, backlogs, or pricing discrepancies. Your site should also be able to easily integrate with different payment gateways and online payment methods, such as PayPal and credit cards. HostGator asserts that having multiple payment options can help reduce cart abandonment.
Speed
Speed is another crucial factor in the success of your website, as a faster site can lead to improved traffic. To ensure that your site loads quickly, make sure that you are running the right kind of code and that your hosting server can keep up. Another factor to consider is your images. If you’re currently uploading your images as they are from your camera, they might be too large to load with the rest of your page. To avoid lag here, use a picture resizer to adjust your image so that it uploads without delay. You can also adjust the size of your image to fit best on social media.
SEO
Search engine optimization is huge in the online marketing world. While you likely can’t tackle a full-blown SEO campaign on your own, you can ensure that your website is listed in the appropriate directories and that you optimize your online presence to show your physical location, if applicable. Remember, many people now search for local products and services online, so your address should show up on Google Maps.
Content
Content is essential for any business website. Not only does it help to attract and engage visitors, but it also plays a key role in SEO. Fresh, original content helps your site to rank higher in search results, which can lead to more traffic and more customers. In addition, well-written content can help to build trust and credibility with your audience. By providing valuable information, you can show your expertise and establish yourself as an authority in your field.
Process Mining
By using process mining, you can improve your website’s usability, efficiency, and effectiveness and better understand your customers’ needs and expectations. Learn more about process mining to map out your website’s processes and identify areas where improvements can be made. In addition, you can use process mining to improve site navigation. By understanding how users move through your website, you can make it easier for them to find what they’re looking for.
Customer Desires
If you listen, your customers will tell you exactly what they want. Pay close attention to your customers’ buying behavior so that you can ensure your website caters to what they are seeking. Look for a process mining tool that helps you dig deep into this data, which will also put you a step further to boosting your sales while minimizing the risk of investing in unnecessary advertising or inventory. Your process mining tool will give you a timeline and help you identify other bits of information needed to make a better decision. Further, having it mapped out will help you decide who needs to be involved in your website decisions.
Mobility
Those same customers who are searching based on location are also likely using their mobile phones or tablets during the search process. Your site must be easily translatable between both desktop and mobile platforms so that it is most available to your customers when they need it most. If for no other reason, it pays to invest in a mobile site or app because your mobile traffic can improve your SEO ranking and lead to more closed sales.
The best way to grow your business is to get people through your digital door. But, once they are there, your site must be ready to serve them and maintain reliability all the time. It isn’t always easy, but optimizing your site with process mining, SEO, and integration are some of the best investments you can make in your business.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
