The best web design practices for SME

As the social conscious shifts towards the appreciation of local, DIY and made-by-hand products and services, small businesses are trending. Consumers have become ethically aware, and as a result, are moving away from corporations. The role of the small business has developed and expanded. If you’re running an SME, it’s likely you know the crucial role of content marketing and maintaining an online presence to get the word out about your business. But web practices aren’t cookie cutter, so what are the best ones for SME?

The internet is an excellent investment when it comes to developing your online community of customers, as well as getting the word out about what it is you do. Having a strong, creative and engaging website is the foundation for this. Your small business can only benefit from some well-thought-out strategies for growing!

Here are the best web design practices for SME

1- Tell your story and establish credibility

Since you’re a small or medium-sized business, it’s likely that you are investing in your community to an extent. Your community members are your potential customers, and ultimately you want them to know who you are, what you do and how it is you can benefit them. Of course, it’s difficult to convey all the rich details of your business history by way your website.

However, the best way to get an interesting ROI as a result of your website is to tell your story as succinctly as possible. Being local and credible is usually enough to draw the customers in, so be sure to be upfront with what makes you unique and how active you’ve been as community members. This will help you begin to establish trust with customers. 

2- Video content

In 2019, video marketing is still a rising trend. When it comes to being a small, local business, one of your areas of focus should be how to convey your unique attributes to consumers. The use of vlogs or other short video marketing pieces can really help to highlight the personality of your business. Not only this, there are plenty of directions you can take video marketing to really explore your creative side.

You might consider a testimonial, an instructional video or a quick little rundown of what your business does. Remember, to create video content you don’t need a team of people or expensive equipment. There is plenty of accessible and free video editing software on the market. Plus, almost every smartphone comes equipped with a camera; so let’s get filming!

Looking for tips on creating quality video content? Check out our article: Why Video is the Future of Web Advertisement.

Looking for web designers for your SME?

Contact us so we can refer you to specialists in our network

3- Be available

This may seem obvious, but as a small business, it’s important to be available. Make sure that the contact information for your business is accurate, up-to-date as well as visible on multiple pages of your website. Not only will this ensure that people can get in touch with you to ask questions, deal with pending problems, book appointments and so forth, but it will help to solidify your credibility.

If potential customers have a difficult time connecting with you, figuring out your hours or your location, chances are they’ll have a hard time investing in your services. We’d suggest your website have a sidebar or footer that clearly lists your phone number and direct email address. Putting both a face and a voice behind your SME is sure to help customers trust you as well as what you’re selling.

4- Clear call-to-action

A clear call-to-action is especially important if you’re an SME who has created a website in order to gather leads or to interact with your customers in any way. It’s crucial to be clear about what it is you do as well as what your customers need to do: what is the primary action you want a visitor to take on your site? To determine this, ask yourself: are you looking for customers to purchase products or services?

Do you want them to get in touch with you or fill out a form? Your call to action should show them exactly what to do and how to do it, without it coming across as overly convoluted or complicated.

5- Simple website navigation

For every SME, the navigation on your website should be simple, user-friendly and therefore predictable. You’re looking for people to browse through your pages and find what they’re looking for without effort. For this reason, place navigation tools at the top of the page or to the left of the sidebar as this is where most users will expect to find it. Also use common cues to alert website visitors to different buttons such as clear links to your social media, your email or other points of contact.

This is where it really aids you to be clear. Avoid using flowery or funny language when you’re looking to instruct the customer to take an action, as this will only leave room for frustration and confusion.

6- Good design and SEO to promote an SME

Lastly, let’s focus on two crucial elements of any website and consider how these can be applied to your SME site. Of course, good web design will make an initial impression when it comes to drawing customers in and making sure they stay there. Pay special attention to your header and home page, being certain to publish high-quality content and images.

Another important note when it comes to the content of your site is search engine optimization or SEO. Once up and running, it’s good to know how your website is performing as well as how people are searching for you. Basic SEO can go a long way to improve your site ranking and to make sure consumers are able to localize your business. Working with an SEO professional can go a long way in helping you to determine search terms that work best for your site as well as where you can make adjustments to improve your content and your spot on Google.

If you’re curious about developing SEO for your small business, you can read further on the subject in our article Local SEO: The 5 most important things to know.