Want to take your small business to the next level and make your mark in the online space? Then you need a website.
According to studies, 20% of commerce is now done online. Businesses with websites grow 15-50% more compared to similar brands that aren’t online. Ninety-seven percent of people also search online to find new local businesses.
If you don’t have a website, you’re basically invisible to your customers.
However, simply having a website is not enough. You need to have a great website – both in design and functionality.
In this article, we’ll list down the key features of a good website. These features should help keep your small business competitive and drive more sales.
We’ve also listed our services which can help you create a more functional web design – from our AI logo generator to our freelance graphic designers.
Let’s get to it!
10 Important Website Features for Small Businesses
Many small businesses struggle to keep their websites modern and effective in driving growth. This is due to their smaller resources and lack of manpower.
Thus prioritizing the website features to include is key. Here are the top features that a website should always have:
1. Mobile Responsiveness
Approximately 93% of people access the internet using a mobile phone. If your site is not mobile-friendly, you’ll risk turning away potential customers.
The best way to make a mobile-friendly website is to use a responsive web design.
A responsive web design means your site will automatically adapt to the screen size you’re viewing it on. Your website will adjust when you view it on a wide computer screen or a smaller tablet.
If you’re viewing it on mobile, a two-column layout will turn into a one-column, your images will be smaller, and so on.
A responsive design can be done by choosing a responsive layout on your website builder of choice or by adding it manually to your code.
2. Fast Loading Speed
Fun fact: 53% of visitors abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load.
Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help you analyze your site and give you tips to improve your loading speed.
Large images can also slow down your site. Compressing your images, changing their file formats, or enabling lazy loading can reduce this lag.
More advanced techniques to consider are using Accelerated Mobile Pages, caching your web pages, using a better web hosting plan, and removing unused CCS and plugins.
3. User-Friendly Navigation
Ever been on a website where it took you ages to find their contact info? Or you have to click through multiple pages just to find one item because they don’t have a search button?
It’s frustrating, right?
Confusing navigation can drive away customers and reduce conversions. To make a more user-friendly website, try:
- Follow site conventions - Designing your site to fit “rules” makes it more intuitive. Clicking the logo means going back to the homepage. Contact info is always on the footer. Text is always left-aligned. Scroll bars are visible when scrolling down. Etc. If you break these typical conventions, your users will only get confused.
- Use icons - Using universal icons such as a magnifying glass for search, a headset for customer support, or an X to close something can also make navigation easier.
- Have clear menus - All your menus should be properly labeled. Categorize them properly as well. For example, your blog should be under “Resources” instead of “About”.
By the way, if you want a clear example of what not to do, check out “The World’s Worst Website Ever.” (We’re sorry for the potential stress it may cause you!)
4. Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)
CTAs are buttons that guide users towards taking action. These are the “Buy Now!” or “Sign Up Now!” that you see.
Clear CTAs increase conversion rates by 32%.
To design an effective one, make sure they are direct and prominent.
Label them with the exact action you want your users to do. Use action-oriented words such as, “Download Now!” “Get It Today!”
Your CTAs should be highly visible as well. Place them at the top of your homepage or at the end of your landing pages. Have a clear contrast between your background and your CTA as well. For example, a red CTA button will stand out when placed on a white background.
Give enough space around your CTA as well. This makes them pop out even more and also makes them look more clickable in your user’s minds.
5. Customer Support Features
Eighty-eight percent of consumers are more likely to trust a business with easily accessible contact information.
A visible contact form, a dedicated FAQ section, as well as a 24/7 customer support can help you look more credible as well as provide the necessary help to your customers.
Your contact form doesn’t need to be fancy – just ask for their name, email, and their message. Make sure the form’s design is also simple to not overwhelm your users.
A resource page that contains FAQs and tutorial videos can assist your users with minor inquiries. This way you can focus all your resources on users with more complicated concerns.
Small businesses can harness the power of AI or text messaging chatbots. You can also use live chat software or a WhatsApp chat widget to provide 24/7 support without needing a huge dedicated support team. Explore this guide on chatbots to learn how they can streamline your support process.
6. E-Commerce Functionality
If you’re planning to use your website as your online store, you’ll need to add e-commerce functionalities to your site.
You can use Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. Other website builders such as WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix also have e-commerce themes you can use.
Your “regular” website can also have some minor e-commerce features. These are great if you are selling fewer items and may not need an intensive e-commerce site.
Google Checkout, PayPal, or Sage can be integrated into any website to allow your users to purchase your products and services. Shopify also has a “Buy” button feature that you can add to your site by just copy-pasting their code. Other similar tools are FoxyCart, Snipcart, and Ecwid. Additionally, tools like the Foxkit Shopify app can enhance users' shopping experience on your Shopify store and boost revenue by providing smart upsell cross-sell features such as Pop-ups, Bundles, Volume Discounts, and In-cart Offer
If you’re selling on Amazon, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and the like, you can also just link to them on your website. When planning these features, it’s essential to consider how much does a website cost, as the total investment can vary depending on the complexity of your e-commerce needs and the tools you choose to integrate.
7. High-Quality Visuals
Seventy-five percent of consumers admit to judging a company’s credibility based on their website design. Websites with great visuals also retain users longer and improve conversion rates.
Consistency is important in the web design process. Use the same layout, color, font, and illustration style across all your web pages to make them look cohesive.
Use high-quality images as well. Make sure they are well-lit and not pixelated. This is even more crucial if you have an e-commerce site and you take tons of product photos.
If you’re planning to use custom graphics instead of photographs, make sure you use an art style that is in line with your branding. For example, a cute cartoon character will work better for a younger audience instead of corporate 50-year-olds.
And speaking of branding, your website should always adhere to your brand style. Do you have a red-and-white color scheme? Then use the same colors on your site. Do you use a particular font for your logo? Then use the same font for your headlines.
Our freelance web designers and graphic designers can help you create beautiful designs that can catch attention. More importantly, they can create these with your branding in mind!
But if you want to DIY, you can also use our tools like AI background remover or customizable video templates to create beautiful graphics, fast.
8. Secure Website
Websites without SSL certification are flagged as “Not Secure” by browsers. And what happens when your users see that? They’ll assume that your site is dangerous or is a scam.
You can get SSL certificates through certificate authorities like CloudFlare, Let’s Encrypt, Comodo, or GeoTrust.
Other site security badges such as Norton Secured or McAfee Secured, or payment badges for Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal can also increase your credibility.
You can add these badges through code or through your website builders. Beyond security, a well-structured eCommerce site also needs efficient product management. A PIM system is a must-have in eCommerce for managing product details, bundles, and variants all in one place, ensuring seamless updates and consistency. As more platforms adopt AI, it’s also crucial to address AI security risks, like data manipulation or automated fraud, managing these threats helps maintain customer trust and protects your operations
9. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines are the primary way customers discover new businesses online. Thus websites need to be structured for search engines to find them easily. This process is called SEO.
Some basic SEO practices you can do are:
- Keyword research - find keywords your audience and searching for and incorporate them in your website text, blogs, product descriptions, etc
- Alt-text - These are the descriptions for an image on your site. While these are mainly used for accessibility purposes, adding clear and keyword-rich alt text can also help Google find your page easily
- Meta tags - When you search on Google, you’ll see a snippet per site. These are your title tags and meta descriptions. Optimizing them to contain your keywords while also giving a clear context about the page’s content can help your site be ranked higher in searches.
10. Social Media Widgets
Adding social media widgets in your footer, adding a share function on your articles, or embedding your feed can help seamlessly incorporate your social media into your website.
All of these also add an easy way to expand your reach, drive traffic to your social media accounts, and increase engagement. To ensure these features work smoothly and don’t slow down your site, consider investing in better web hosting. Reliable hosting improves load times and pReliable hosting improves load times and performance, especially when integrating dynamic content like social feeds, a Facebook widget, and other interactive elements.
People who may have stumbled on your website can now easily follow you on your social media accounts to keep them updated. It also gives them an alternative way to contact you if they are more active on those accounts.
Design Your Website Today!
A well-designed and fast hosting website is crucial for any small business.
While there are a ton of functionalities you can add, such as AI-powered chatbots, and a multitude of fancy visual designs you can incorporate, these ten website features are the true must-haves for any site.
If you’re just starting out and don’t have much budget or time for an intensive website design, make sure you at least have these features right from the start. These features will make your website more user-friendly, accessible to all, as well as more aesthetically pleasing.
If you’re looking for other articles that discuss the features of a great website, you can check out:
Once you are ready to start your site, you can tap into our community of designers here to help you. You can also build a website with BrandCrowd if you want a simple and beginner-friendly website building process.
See you in our next article!
Written by DesignCrowd on Monday, September 30, 2024
DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.
