In today’s digital age, having an online presence is essential for any business, especially a startup. Your website is where consumers will go to research your products/services, learn more about your company, and, most importantly, make a purchase. In order to convert visitors to your site into leads, there are certain essential things to include on your website. Ensure your site has these five must-have features, and you are sure to see conversions skyrocket.

Easily Accessible Contact Information

An easy route for customers to contact your business is key. If applicable, include your business phone number/email in the header, showcase detailed contact information in the footer, and have a contact page for visitors. Link to your social profiles aside the contact information.

It should be explicitly clear to all visitors how they should contact you. If a visitor has a question, you don’t want them to be searching around trying to find your phone number or email. Additionally, if you give users the option of contacting you through a form, make sure that you only require that they fill out the minimum number of necessary fields. If a user needs to fill out ten fields in order to contact you, they may be less inclined to do so, at which point you’ve lost a potential lead.

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples of startups and young businesses that have structured their sites the right way. Community Tax, an accounting startup in Chicago, makes sure to provide multiple ways of contacting the company throughout the site. Let’s look specifically at the homepage. The phone number is in the top nav along with a CTA that takes the user to the Contact page. There are also multiple contact forms throughout the homepage, so the user is never left wondering where or how they contact the company.

Blog

Maintaining a blog is essential for any startup business to stay relevant in its respective industry. Creating blog posts is beneficial for your customers and your site’s search engine optimization. Companies that published 16 or more blog posts a month received approximately 4.5 times more leads than companies that published 0-4 blog posts a month, according to a Hubspot study. Thus, it is essential to publish fresh content frequently.

Cater your startup’s business blog for your brand, company goals, and your target audience. The company blog is an opportunity to educate and develop lasting relationships with customers. A blog adds value to your audience and gives your startup business a voice. Leverage high-quality original videos and photos about your business within your posts. Research, plan, and create content for your blog often; it could prove to be your top performing marketing channel.

Our next example comes from BioClarity, a startup skincare company. BioClarity focuses their blog posts on the topics that their target market is most interested in – anything related to acne and acne treatment. By posting regularly and writing on topics that their audience cares about, they are building a connection with potential customers and most likely converting more visitors through their blog.

Clear Call-to-Action

A visitor has landed on the page, now keep them on your site. Use a call-to-action to direct customers down the conversion path. The call-to-action should be clearly identified and should be in multiple areas throughout the website. Ensure your website visitors understand what your startup has to offer and how to obtain it as soon as possible.

Entice customers with variations of your call-to-action with different colors and fonts that stand out from the rest of the homepage. Always be testing call-to-action buttons to see what works best for driving conversions.

Optimize your call-to-action buttons for mobile visitors. Create a large contrasting button that is easy to tap and click. Online e-commerce and subscription-based sites like BarkBox often do a great job of having concise call-to-action buttons included their respective homepages.

User-Friendly and Mobile-Friendly

A clean website design and functionality are important for a startup website. Develop a succinct path to the different pages of your site. Site architecture and structure maintains the integrity of your site. Utilize a hamburger menu for responsive design; this will help mobile users (who will most likely make up the majority of your website visitors) locate website sections.

In addition to your site navigation, including a search box feature so customers can quickly locate the information they may need. Use visitor search box queries to improve site navigation, inspire blog post ideas, and create necessary pages on your site.

Your website must load quickly. For a speedy load time, enable compression to reduce the size of your CSS, HTML, optimize images, leverage browser caching, and reduce redirects. Page speed affects your search engine optimization and conversions on site.

Your website might look great, but does it guide visitors and help them fully understand the value of your startup business? In addition to a stellar layout and design, be sure to include the imperative “so what” information about your business. Show the value of your startup product or service and lure your audience into conversions.

Social Proof & Testimonials

Include this on your homepage to establish validity and credibility with visitors. Reviews and partnerships are trust signals for visitors. ChowNow has a dedicated section for testimonials and reviews about their product and services. Small local businesses can also benefit from showcasing client reviews. Although it might not always make sense to have a whole page dedicate to testimonials like ChowNow, many companies like Source Capital, display their reviews in sliders.

Does your company have any awards or certifications in your industry? Add the recognition to the homepage; it supports the quality of your startup’s work and the image as an expert. Include the reviewer’s name, title, location, and from where the review came if applicable.

Conclusion

These five must-haves will set up your startup for success. Use your site as a 24/7 marketer. A site that stands out in your industry will ease customers into conversions. A well-written and clever copy will keep visitors converting.

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Brandon is an SEO Specialist born and raised in Southern California that enjoys developing compelling online user experiences and marketing campaigns that search engines love.