5 Tips to Create a Killer Business Website that Gets Leads and Converts

Nowadays, you either have an online presence or you’re out of the picture. It might sound a bit harsh, but the fact of the matter is that every growth-oriented company needs to have a well-designed, performance-driven website to enhance its online influence and build brand authority, visibility, and trust. If you’re looking to keep your business ahead of the competition, though, a simple online presentation won’t cut it. Instead, you need to know exactly how to build a captivating digital presence that will get you on the online map and inspire people to become your loyal brand followers.

By EMMA WORDEN

And it all starts with your website. One of the biggest challenges startups face nowadays is breaking through that thick layer of competition and noise in the online world and coming out on top of the search results while truly inspiring their audience to venture onto their websites. That’s why today we are taking an in-depth look at the five tips you need to know in order to build a killer business website that generates leads and converts with ease.

Own your brand every step of the way

Brand-building is the first and one of the most important steps towards long-term business success. You can have the best products on the market with unbeatable prices or provide a service that puts your competition to shame, but if you don’t have a brand you don’t actually have anything to set you apart. At least not in a meaningful way. You see, people don’t get attached to products as much as they get attached to the brands they believe in. If they did, then everyone would own a PC instead of a Mac.

With that in mind, you not only need to create a unique brand identity, but you also need to weave it into the very fabric of your website. Every page, visual element, and line of text should support your website, what it stands for, and emphasize its uniqueness in a sea of companies that offer the same thing. Be sure to develop your brand’s values and tone of voice and use them to make your website unique in every way.

Create CTAs that inspire and engage

Websites without CTAs have a much higher chance of losing leads and visitors simply because they are not telling them what they need to do next. It’s not rocket science – people want you to inspire them to take the next step in order to get your free eBook, get a special discount, become a part of your loyalty program, or even buy something on the spot. You see, calls to action are not just about selling products, they’re about encouraging the visitor to interact with your brand in any way.

Every action that they take is a conversion in its own right, even if all you got was their personal email address. So, your next order of business is to craft inspirational CTAs. Naturally, you’re going to flunk by doing what everyone else does, so make sure they pop by using unique long-form CTAs like:

Give me my free eBook.

Sure, I’ll check out your products.

I would love a discount, thanks.

Tell me more about this.

Send me weekly emails on deals and promotions.

Make your domain unique and memorable

Choosing any domain that’s available without really thinking about it is a surefire way to get your website buried in the search results. If you want to appear on the first page of Google, you need to make your domain memorable, authoritative, and recognizable. Personalizing it is also a great idea, which is why companies are nowadays increasingly switching to a .me TLD instead of sticking with traditional top-level domains.

The key is to get a top-level domain so that Google doesn’t consider your website a scam or spam operation, and if you’re running a personal business, choosing a .me domain is a great way to give your personal brand that dose of authenticity to make it more memorable. You’ll also want to make the domain name short and sweet, avoiding hyphens and numbers at all costs.

Craft stellar SEO-driven content

Storytelling separates the winners from the losers nowadays, as you can’t hope to make your website stand out if you’re just regurgitating what your competitors are saying. Instead, you need to make the content of your website unique and in-line with your brand, without forgetting to integrate relevant keywords to boost your site’s SEO score.

Start by picking out the keywords you want to rank for, and then weave them into every landing page, every piece of copy, product description, article, and beyond. Instead of just talking at your audience, try to take them on a journey and help them envision using your products or enjoying your services. The content on your site should be informational, but it should be engaging and inspirational first and foremost.

Make your website functional and responsive

Lastly, your website needs to be responsive and optimized for the search engines and your online audience. This means that you need to optimize your site for mobile traffic using accelerated mobile pages to make your site scalable on every mobile device and easier to use overall. Be sure to choose a good hosting plan to ensure short loading times, and check if the provider guarantees 99.99% uptime. Keep your images light so that they load faster and retain a minimalist approach to design for aesthetic and functional purposes.

Nowadays, anyone can make a website in a couple of minutes, but that doesn’t make the website marketable. If you want to take your company forward and ensure long-term growth, you need to implement these tips and craft a website that truly stands out in the competitive online realm.

Emma is a digital marketer and blogger from Sydney. After getting a marketing degree she started working with Australian startups on business and marketing development. Emma writes for many relevant, industry related online publications and does a job of an Executive Editor at Bizzmark blog and a guest lecturer at Melbourne University. Interested in marketing, startups and latest business trends. Follow Emma on Twitter.