Your website is the headquarters of all your online marketing. It’s the first thing most people will find when they search for your business. Between 70% and 80% of all consumers say that they research businesses online before buying products. In addition, 38% say that they’ll navigate away from a website if it is poorly designed. It’s not a good idea to throw together a basic business website that doesn’t help you to generate new leads for your business. Your design must be user-friendly and intentional. Here are some tips to help you out. Choose the Right Domain Name It’s always surprising how many small businesses choose confusing or difficult-to-remember domain names for their business websites. Your domain name must be: Descriptive of your business Easy to type and spell (skip the dashes and weird abbreviations) Easy to remember In addition to the name itself, you should also focus on finding a domain name that’s got one of the most popular extensions. These include: .com (by far the most popular) .net .biz .org Less popular options, such as .info or .us, can confuse potential leads and make them choose a competitor over you. Leave dashes and other punctuation out of your domain name and try to keep it short – under 15 characters is ideal. However, a lot of shorter domain names aren’t available and you’re better off choosing a .com name with a longer root than a shorter name with a less-common extension. Design a Killer Home Page In many cases, your home page will be the first thing a visitor to your site sees. That means it must be clear, attractive, and easy to read and navigate. Your home page is like the cover of a book. It’s got to be welcoming and intriguing. You should have concise and compelling copy that explains who you are and what you do. You’ll also need original, meaningful images that sell your business. We’ll talk more about calls to action later, but your home page absolutely needs a clear CTA and an irresistible offer, as well. The CTA should appear above the fold for the best results. Boost Your SEO If it’s been a while since you’ve researched keywords and optimized your page, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. Google changes its search algorithm constantly. There are a lot of business sites that haven’t even taken mobile optimization seriously – something that’s inexcusable considering that more than 60% of all searches are done on mobile devices. Optimizing for voice search should also be a priority. That means choosing long-tail keywords that are highly focused and specific. Make sure that the content on your website answers the most commonly asked questions about your business and products. You should also use Schema markup to ensure that it’s easy for Google, Bing, and other search engines to scan and index your site. Tell Visitors What to Do Next A lot of small business websites have only one call to action. It’s usually on the home page, but a lot of times it’s hidden deep in the website’s structure. It may be out of sight at the bottom of the page, overly complicated, or unclear. If that’s the case with your site, it’s time to ramp up your calls to action to make them obvious, easy to find, and simple to fill out. Here’s what I recommend: Include a call to action on every page Make sure your forms have the fewest possible number of fields Auto-complete fields whenever possible Tailor the CTA to the page it’s on Use strong verbs and wording that makes it clear what the user will get if they fill out your form Your call to action should not be the only way for people to get in touch with you. You may also want to include a “Contact Us” option in your header or footer and include your email address or phone number on every page, too. The point is, you want it to be easy for people to contact you. Build Multiple Landing Pages Another common mistake that local business owners make on their websites is not thinking of every page as a landing page. Including a CTA on each page is only part o...