A website is the most important tool that a business has. A fully functioning modern website should be a top priority. When running a small business and establishing a strong online presence should be a top priority. Potential clients should be able to easily discover your business, be it online when Googling or searching around on social media. This is especially important for new businesses and startups. In this post, I'll be detailing the kind of things you need to keep in mind when having a website built for your business.

Scalable

Your company website should be scalable from the start. This means from the very beginning of the initial discovery and designing process; you should have in mind the website that you initially launch is in no way the finished or even the best version of it. Your website should grow and improve as your business does. Examples of this could include adding new testimonials or updating your portfolio with case studies showcasing your best work. In the future, if your company decides to expand the products/services that it offers, then your website should be built with this in mind, so you don't have to have a complete redesign every time expansions or changes in your vision occur in the future.

Portfolio

Building up your website as a platform for your business portfolio is one of the best things you can do for your business. Showing off projects you've completed in the past is great, but what's even better is a fully written case study detailing the project itself, detailing the problems the client was facing, what they required and your approach to solving those problems and achieving their goals. This gives potential clients an insight into your work process and your approach to problem-solving.

Points of Contact

Once potential clients are on your website and have decided to reach out and work with you, they will need a way to contact you. Having your contact details embedded throughout your site is vital. This can be anything from your contact details in your footer or even built into your menu and banner. Having links to your social media can also be a great way for clients to see your other content and possibly reach out to you on other platforms, like LinkedIn or Twitter.

A contact form is another important part of this, getting the information you need to either reach out for an initial meeting or even build out a full digital questionnaire so you can get in touch with an initial proposal or estimation for future work.

Testimonials

Testimonials come hand in hand with your portfolio, as well as presenting work you've completed for your clients; having testimonials from said clients is the perfect way to demonstrate how pleased those business owners are with both the product/service you offer. Instead of one or two-sentence testimonials, try to build up more detailed reviews explaining both how pleased they are with the finished product but also what it's like to work with you. This greatly improves your credibility and boosts your status in the field.

Updates and Announcements

Your clients should never be caught out; ensuring they are kept updated with the goings on with your business is super important, especially when it comes to conveying that your customers come first.

If your hours change, or there is a significant change in the products/services that you offer, it is to the benefit of you and your customers to make this information public. Either through announcements on your website, blog or even social media channels. Communication is key. This brings me to my next and final point.

Marketing

I won't be going into too much detail here as I could go on forever, and I'll be doing a whole post about it in the future.

In this day and age, your website is the biggest and potentially the strongest marketing tool in your arsenal. Ensuring it's updated and added to will improve your listing on search engines as opposed to a company that launched their website in 2005 and hasn't done anything with it since. Updates to your site don't need to be a headlining colossus every time. Something as simple as publishing a new blog post or adding a new testimonial or project, as I mentioned before, can go a long way for clients looking through your website and thinking about working with you for your next project.

Keeping active in this sense makes you far more appealing and increases the likelihood of clients keeping you in mind in the future.

Final Thoughts

I hope this article has given you some initial thoughts on how vital and beneficial it is for your company to have a strong online presence through a modern and well-designed website that gives your company a platform to communicate with your current and potential clients.