If you own a small business
but don’t actually sell products on your website, you need to pay ATTENTION!!!. For retail and
restaurant websites, these are some of the features that your site MUST contain,
but many sites miss some or all of IT. For retail and restaurant
websites, these are some of the features that your site MUST contain, but many
sites miss some or all of these, or they’re too hard to find to be effective.
Even if your website
consists of only a single page, make sure that it has no less than the following,
in no particular order.
Store hours
Telephone number
Street address of all
locations
A list of products and
brands that you carry
Specials, sales, and web
coupons
1. Store Hours
Make sure that your site
clearly lists the standard operating hours and holiday scheduling. If you aren't operating an eCommerce site, try to put these on every page. If you have
multiple locations, make sure to put the hours for every location if they are
different.
Don’t make it difficult to
find your operating hours. Putting them prominently in the sidebar or footer of
every page is a great way to do this in a clean and elegant manner.
2. Telephone number
Your local, and toll free
if you have one, phone number should be clearly listed on every page of the
website. If your business provides any sort of continuous support, make sure
you put your after hours or other pertinent support numbers on there as well.
3. Street address of all
locations
Every location that you
operate should be listed on your site. If you only have 1 location, put the
street address and a link to a Google map on every page. The footer is an
excellent place to do this.
If you have a handful of
locations, use a dedicated page for all locations, and make sure to include a Google map link, and the business hours for each location on the same page.
If you have many locations,
a “find nearest location” search function should be accessible from every page.
These are best placed in both the header and footer of the site. You can put a
quick zip code based look up in the header of every page to make it extra-easy.
Again, on the detail page for each location, make sure to put a maps link, the
phone number, and the business hours for that particular location.
4. A list of products and
services that you carry
You know a lot about your
business, but a new customer probably won’t know specific details just from
your name alone. You should always list major brands that you carry, or if you
provide services, and anything else a customer might want to know before coming
into your store.
“We sell sporting
equipment” is not a good description.
“We sell the finest rock
climbing, kayaking, and camping gear, and a full lineup of outdoor supplies and
equipment” is much better!
5. Specials, sales and
coupons
When you market to an
audience on the internet, you are just one of a million other websites trying
to sell to the same people. By providing web coupons, listing specials, and
current sales, you instantly connect with your customer and they are far more
likely to stay on your website, bookmark it, and later come into your store.
This is probably the least
utilized marketing effort by small retail businesses, and it makes a big
difference. You've paid someone to design, program, and host your website. If
you aren't getting the people that visit it, to take action, you’re wasting
your money. Or they’re too hard to find to be effective.
