Too many businesses invest in website hosting because they feel they have to, rather than because they understand its true potential. While customers will often require the basic presence of a website to feel trust in the product or service, websites also offer a magnitude of further opportunities to develop your brand, grow your business and connect with your consumer.

If your website is sat gathering dust, not getting many visitors or helping to convert interest into sales, then it could be working harder. Your domain isn’t just a nice-to-have promotional tool, it can be a real major player in your company’s marketing mix.

  1. When it comes to your homepage, less is more

It may be tempting to use your homepage – as the initial space your site visitors will encounter – to promote many positive brand messages and employ various sales tactics. However, the main objective of your website’s homepage should be to clearly and concisely communicate to visitors what your company is all about.

Consider the hierarchy of information that’s relevant to your product or service. If you’re selling a range of jewellery, and the first thing visitors see when landing on your homepage isn’t one of your top selling pieces, you may need to reconsider the hierarchy you apply. To work hardest, homepages should deliver a short one-line mission statement, supported by emotive visuals; assess your current homepage with the 5 Second Test.

  1. Adopt clean user experience strategies

A great website is designed considering both user experience and user interface. The experience is the framework, flow of information and structure of content, and the interface includes colors and imagery you choose to decorate this with.

The UX (user experience) you build for customers should be clean and intuitive; what page do they expect to see following a product portfolio? Where would they instinctively click in order to find contact information? You can ensure you’re delivering against user intuition by running UX Research sessions or using UX prototyping tools.

  1. Tailor your copy and content, to drive traffic

Your website copy isn’t simply filler that helps make a webpage look informative. The text you populate your website with can make all the difference between visitors organically discovering your website, or it being left ignored for your competitors.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and other content marketing strategies should be front of mind when you’re designing your website. Don’t worry if you feel ill-prepared to draw up such implantation plans, simply find a content agency – such as clickintelligence.co.uk – who specialise in link building, quality content and copywriting.

Content marketing also encompasses using partner sites to further drive traffic towards your product or service. Another fantastic way to increase your website hits and make your digital presence work harder.

A website should be an ever-developing, irreplaceable tool in your marketing mix. Invest good money in designing it with optimal visuals and copy, and you’ll soon start to see your investment paying off in sales activity.