What your website must do
A website is not there to look nice. It is there to turn a visitor into a customer. Here are the seven things a good one does, in plain words, so you can check your own.
Say what you do in one line
A visitor decides in a few seconds. Right at the top, say what you do and where. For example: "Haitian food for your parties, in Miami." Clear beats clever every time.
Try this Read your top line to a friend. If they can say it back, it works.
Put a call button where a thumb can reach
Many people will open your site on a phone. Put a big Call button and a WhatsApp button at the top, and keep them on the screen as people scroll. One tap, and they are talking to you.
Try this Pick up your phone and try your own buttons. Do they work?
Show your hours and your place
Say when you are open and show where you are. Add the street address and a map. People want to know one thing: can I come today?
Try this Put the hours and the address in the same place on every page.
Use real photos
Real photos of your work, your place and your face say: this is a real business. Pictures that anyone could use say nothing. Your own photos, even from a phone, are worth more.
Try this Our guide "Photos that sell, with your phone" shows you how.
Show what your customers say
Put two or three real reviews near the top. A short line from a happy customer helps a stranger feel safe. Use their first name if they say yes.
Try this Always ask before you use someone's name.
Let people book or order
If people can book a time, order food or ask for a price right on your site, you catch them while they are interested. Keep it short: a name, a phone number and what they want.
Try this Every extra question loses a few people. Ask only what you need.
Make it fast on a phone
Open your site on your phone, using your data and not Wi-Fi. Does it open fast? Can you read the words without zooming? Can you tap the buttons easily? Nobody likes to wait, and heavy photos make a site slow.
Try this Ask a friend with an older phone to try it too.
Picture this
Picture a caterer named Rose. Her old site had a long story about her and no phone number. She changes the top line to "Haitian food for your parties, in Miami", adds a Call button, her real photos and two reviews. Now a stranger can see what she does, trust her and call her in one tap.
Do this today
Tap each one when you have done it.
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