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Your website has a heavy influence on your customers' experience. Your website should grow with you as you grow, and that takes a bit of planning. Today, JaM Advertising & Productions shares tips to ensure that your website keeps a pace that goes beyond a pleasing design.
Link with your existing processes and CRM
Whether you are just getting your website up and running or it’s been online for years, make sure that it links with your existing internal systems, such as your resource planning and customer relationship programs. Your website is a valuable tool that can help you collect information and keep your inventory in line as long as it can communicate with your existing programs.
Learn about customer behavior with process mining and mapping
There are many different ways to better understand your customers. Perhaps the two most valuable are engagement and process mining. While this is usually called task mining, process mining is best thought of as a streamlined way to capture user interaction, which allows you to generate a model from this data to create a process map. This is just one of many examples of process mapping, a visualization that everyone can refer to get a clear idea of how each process works and where each person plays a part.
Once you better understand how your customers interact with your site, you can make changes to keep them more engaged. By diving deep into these behaviors, you’ll also be in a better position to uncover hidden revenue streams and keep a closer watch on potential risks. To begin the process, determine who will handle choosing your data sources and then assign everyone involved a timeline-sensitive role.
Optimize your content
The content on your website must appeal to your users; otherwise, your site won’t be valuable to them or to you. Optimize your content and site as a whole by utilizing keywords, location-based data, and SEO best practices.
Make it mobile
According to the GSM Association, a UK-based mobile network representation firm, more than half of the world’s population uses a mobile device of some sort to access the internet. This underscores the growth of mobile technology. Even more importantly, the vast majority of internet searches now take place online. If your website is not mobile-ready, you’re missing out on many potential customers.
Speed up your website
Ask your web developer about ways they can boost the speed of your website. Remember, you have mere seconds before a user clicks away if your site is slow or lagging.
Utilize e-commerce.
There are definite pros and cons of operating a brick-and-mortar business as well as an online company. However, as many people prefer to shop online, it makes sense to position your business as an e-commerce platform. While you can still sell in person, the more convenient you can make shopping, the more customers you appeal to in the long run.
Link to your social media
Make sure that your website links to all of your social media platforms. This helps create consistency with your brand and helps your customers find multiple ways to engage with you.
Consider artificial intelligence
While artificial intelligence may seem cold and uncaring, it’s actually one of the greatest gifts you can give your customers. Although AIs are limited in their ability to provide compassion or understand the subtle nuances of human language, they have many benefits. Your customers can log onto your site and get answers to many common questions around the clock. AI technology firm AtlasRTX explains further that a chatbot AI is always learning and offers the option for humans to intervene at any moment.
Improve accessibility
Your website must be inclusive and accessible to all. Tips to improve your website's accessibility include using descriptive names for links, being cautious with color, and making sure that you’ve included alt text for images. You also want to confirm with your web designer that all content is accessible without the use of a mouse or trackpad. Remember, not all users have the same abilities. Having a website that works well for people with visual or mobility differences shows that you have the needs of all in mind.
Confirm accuracy
Your business is ever evolving, and your website should reflect this. Spend some time at least once each month confirming that the information on your website is up-to-date. This should include contact information, operating hours, location, a list of your services, and, if applicable, bios of your key personnel. If your website is outdated, your customers will get bad information, which can leave a bad taste in their mouths.
As you grow, so too must your online presence. While social media is important, your website should always be strategically positioned to accommodate growth and also to perpetuate your forward movement. From utilizing artificial intelligence and location-based technology to using process mapping and simply making sure your hours and service listings are correct, the above tips are just a few of the many ways you can prioritize your customers, your employees, and your future by investing in your website.