It's 2020.
You must have a professional website to impress millennials, Period. Big cartel websites, .net domains, hard-to-read fonts and blurry graphics will instantly hurt your sales and traffic. Not only will visitors abandon your website within seconds, Google and other search engines will not rank you high enough to get found in their search engines. This will dramatically hurt your organic traffic (#1 traffic source) and you will be wondering why you aren't getting many sales.
On top of just the looks, a little behind the scenes work can also give your business a more professional look overall, such as a hosted email address and REAL business account.
The great thing is, there are tons of ways to instantly fix your website for free, which will boost your traffic and sales tenfold.
I put together a list of eight easy ways to make your business more professional, thus boosting your traffic and sales.
Use a .com domain
Sounds easy enough right? Well what if your business name isn't available as a .com web address. It could be taken or you could pay in the upwards of thousands to attempt to get it. Before opting for changing your business name or settling with a ".net" address, consider the following alternatives:
- shopyourcompanyname.com
- yourcompanynameonline.com
- yourcompanynameworld.com
- theyourcompanyname.com
- yourcompanynameboutique.com
- yourcompanynamestore.com
*Use GoDaddy.com to search for domains
Get a hosted email address
You only need one address. You can use filters to automatically separate subject lines/content into folders. This is the ultimate professional move and separates rookies from the pros. Even if you are a startup, show your potential customers you are about your business. A professional business email looks better on business cards and in some cases, gets you in doors you wouldn't be able to with a typical Gmail or Yahoo account. That's right, some networking events, associations, apps and more won't even let you in without a hosted email
Recommended: Zoho ($12 per year)
Examples
*Tip: you can still have emails forwarded directly to your Gmail or Yahoo accounts. (Zoho also has an easy to use app for android and iOS)
Get a Business Bank Account
Although customers won't see this, a free business bank account is a great way to keep your business finances separate from your personal. Plus get an official Business Debit Card.
Recommend: Azlo (Free)
- Connects to all e-commerce platforms & PayPal
- Includes a free Visa debit card, use anywhere
- Fee-Free ATMs
- Great customer service
If you bank with major banks such as Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, etc., you can get a business bank account there as well. There may be a fee associated and you MUST have a DBA to sign up. This is also an option if you want to keep all of your banking at the same place or view in the same app.
Remain Consistent
- Pick a color scheme and stick to it
- Use the same, clear fonts (no cursive, curly or comic sans)
- If using filters on product photos, try to use the same filter for entire collection
The same color scheme and fonts should be consistent throughout your website and most marketing materials (both print and content when applicable). Once you have established a color scheme and font (typography) that you will continuously use, people will recognize your brand right away. Think about brands such as Target, WalMart, Calvin Klein, H & M, etc. Each of these brands are easily recognizable by their color scheme and fonts used throughout their logos, websites and marketing.
Required Web Pages
When creating a website, especially e-commerce, there are certain pages that you MUST have to look professional. Without these pages, you most likely will not look legit to consumers. These pages are usually found in the footer of most websites.
Besides homepage, products and collections, your website should have the following non-sales pages to make your potential customer feel comfortable:
About us/Who we are
Explains about who you are, why you started and/or what you do.can be brief or lengthy, can include graphics.
Contact Us
A way for customers to get in contact with you for questions or concerns. Should include any emails, phone numbers, addresses/maps and/or social media contact information
Shipping/Returns:
- A shipping policy gives your customers an understanding of how long it will take to get their products and the costs associated with the shipping time.
- A returns policy is an explanation of what happens next when a customer is not satisfied with their order. It also makes a customer more comfortable when purchasing from you.
- a licence of the copyright in the website (and restrictions on what may be done with the material on the website);
- a disclaimer of liability, limiting the scope of legal claims that a user might bring against you;
- a clause governing user accounts, the use of passwords and restricted areas of the website
Privacy Policy
A statement or a legal document that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses, and manages a customer or client's data.
*If you need a free generator to pre-fill any of these policies, check out our free generators here
Other Tips
- Simple, Easy Navigation menu
- Newsletter/Exit Pop-ups
- Clear, Quality Graphics (Use Canva and free stock photos for banners and blog posts when necessary)
