Does Your Website Lack Luster? Get Advice To Make It Shine!
Your business website is your most important marketing tool, but if it doesn't look good and function smoothly, it lacks luster.
In this blog post, we're going to show you three simple fixes that can make your website shine:
1. Add a logo or image to enhance the homepage
2. Improve your contact form
3. Don't forget the spelling!
In About 20 Minutes with Adobe Photoshop, we show you how to add a logo or color effect to your homepage. This is our #1 most requested article.
We also show you how to replace an ugly font on your contact form or fix the problem of an unreadable email address (yeah, we were once one of those "email address" people).
If your website needs a makeover, get tips and advice from GoDaddy Internet Marketing. Before jumping into making changes, however, take a minute and look at the site's three main features: navigation, current page, and search results. Do they help your visitors find the information they want?
What can you do to address these issues? Here are a few suggestions:
If you're having problems with your website, or if you're trying to attract new customers, consider hiring someone to do a "redesign" of your site. It's hard for people to look at websites for long stretches of time, so "fixing" small problems is usually more important than creating a brand-new site from scratch. If you need help getting started with a redesign, check out our list below or contact us at marketing@goddaddy.com .
1. Add a logo or image to enhance the homepage
It's the first thing visitors will notice when they log on, so it's important you take advantage of that space. A logo or design treatment can be installed by uploading your graphic to your theme via FTP and adding it to the <head> section in customize.php . It can also be added manually by creating a new image file (whose dimensions match the size of your site), naming the file index.html (or whatever you call your index file), and placing it in the root folder.
2. Improve your contact form
Seems simple, but often the contact form on a website is used more like an afterthought than a main feature. So most people are too busy to actually fill out all the fields correctly.
Here's an example of a contact form with placeholder text:
The basic problem here is that most websites don't use color-coding. Instead, they have multiple signup forms with different questions being asked and no consistency in the messages being displayed. While this system seems logical at first glance, it's quite confusing for the recipient and doesn't allow her to make a decision about which email she wants to receive information from.
The problem with a contact form is that you have to be quick to fill in an email address and address because most people don't spend much time filling this out. If you get the recipient's email address wrong, then your chances of actually receiving her message are slim.
You also might not see the benefit of having a contact form because you hope visitors will start conversing directly with you through e-mail or chat. You may also prefer to use another means of communication such as social media, private groups, or phone calls. If so, then don't force visitors to fill out long forms before they can get answers to their questions.
What can you do to fix this problem? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Create a welcome message, along with a link to the contact form, on every page of your website. A message about how easy it is for the visitor to get in touch with you will help her feel welcomed and motivated to complete the form. Use white-on-black text or a reverse banner and make it stand out from the background so it's easy for people to read. You may also want to replace your placeholder text with something more compelling, such as "We'd love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have."
2. Use color-coding in your contact form. If you have multiple forms with different questions, use names that correspond to the nature of what they're asking – i.e., "To request a refund," "To submit an order," etc. You could also make it easier for people to complete the form by adding text explaining what the person should include in his email – i.e., "Please write your full name and address at the top of your message."
3. Make sure that each individual question in your contact form requires only one response to answer correctly.
Conclusion
The way your site functions is just as important as the way it looks. If a visitor has to jump through hoops to get information from your site, he probably won't bother. So choose the most convenient forms of communication with your customers and give them places on your website where they can get answers to their questions immediately.
3. Don't forget the spelling!
Too many times, businesses don't take the time to proofread their own sites before publishing them online.