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8 Best Practices for Small

Business Web Design Level the playing field with larger enterprises by taking your online

presence to the next level with these eight strategies.

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Why Focus on Web Design?

Businesses today must have an

online presence. Websites are a marketing

necessity for most companies today and are

an essential platform for informing customers

about products and services offered. They also

provide businesses with the opportunity to

share messages and generate sales.

71% of enterprise purchase decisions in

the U.S. begin with research conducted on

a search engine1. 89% of consumers turn to

Google, Bing or another search engine for

information prior to making purchases2.

Your customers are demanding you have a

website and online presence, no matter if

you’re selling to businesses or consumers

directly. Whether your business has an out-of-

date or under-performing site, or you’re

considering launching a new website from

scratch, you need to make sure you’re focused

on the best practices for your small business.

Your website’s design says a lot about your

business and brand. It can influence customers

to stick around and make a purchase or request

more information, or it can drive them away. To

level the playing field with larger enterprises,

consider these eight best practices for your

small business.

1. “Digital Influence Index,” Fleishman-Hillard, 2012.

2. .”How Marketers Will Respond to More Intelligent

Searches Will Determine Their Success,” DAC Group,

2011.

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Hire a Professional and Employ Easy Navigation

Not all web design companies are created

equal. Even companies with a wealth of

experience may not be a fit for your goals or

business. Many sites today are built using a

content management system (CMS) which

allows for easy adding, editing, and updating

without extensive knowledge of HTML. Small

businesses looking to have a truly dynamic

design with great functionality should consider

hiring a professional.

40% of users will abandon a web page if it

takes more than three seconds to load3.

64% of shoppers who are dissatisfied with

their site visit will go somewhere else to

shop next time.

A professional web design company or creating

a custom website in a popular CMS can help

you create a user-friendly site that isn’t too

flashy or difficult to navigate, for both the user-

end and editor-end.

Easy navigation needs to be a focus. As the

stats above show, a slow load time or a poor

site experience can drive customers

elsewhere, including to your competitors.

Creating a site on your own may lead to over-

design, under-design or a less than stellar user

experience.

Today’s consumers demand a fast, engaging

and secure online experience. Whether your

small business is looking to open an e-

Commerce store or build a branded website to

showcase the services you offer, make sure you

spend a good deal of time focusing on the user

experience, from visual design to navigational

flow.

Can a new customer or first-time visitor to your

site find what they are looking for within three

seconds? A professional web design firm that

has worked with businesses similar to yours, or

with companies with similar goals, can provide

you with site navigation setup guidance and

recommendations. Areas on your site that

should be easily found via your homepage are:

• Your “Contact Us” form

• Your “About Us” page

• Your products/services offerings

• Your blog, if applicable

Have your website professionally developed,

then ensure maintenance of the site is being

taken care of. You’ll want to edit and update the

page often to keep it current; make sure you

work with the designer so that you’re able to do

so without much difficulty.

3. “eCommerce Web Site Performance Today,” Akmai, Aug. 2009.

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Keep Customers Happy: Opt-Ins and Interruptions

Interruptions from pop-ups and opt-

in email-newsletters are unlikely to keep

customers coming back to your small

business’s website. While banner ads and

email newsletters often provide valuable

information to users, e.g. trending news or

related products, too many can negatively

impact the customer’s experience. Limit the

interruptions and you could begin

experiencing more conversions. Some

downsides to pop-ups are:

• Interrupting and disturbing content

readers,

• Pop-up subscribers tend to have lower

engagement,

• Possible negative branding.

However, pop-ups aren’t all bad. With the right

techniques, filters and offerings within the pop-

up, these can prove valuable in increasing

email subscribers and profits. Banner ads and

email subscribe requests need to be

targeted, simple and easy to exit.

Another possible interruption that could appear

on your site are auto-play audio tracks and

videos. Many prefer not to have a business site

auto-play the media they feature.

Even if a user subscribes via your pop-

up, it doesn’t mean they want to be opted-in to

all your company email messages. Relevant

content delivered at the right time, whether it’s

through on-site optimization or an email, is a

must.

Limit and test your use of interruptive

promotions, such as email pop-ups and banners,

and avoid un-targeted, opt-in email

segmentation.

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Consolidate Strategies and Reporting Channels

Your content, SEO, site optimization and social

strategies should be consolidated into your

overall web design and user experience

strategy. SEO (search engine optimization)

should be a part of any company’s online

strategy and so should social media. Featuring

icons or text that showcase to users where

your business can be found online can keep

the conversation between those customers

and your business going.

While strategy integration may not seem like

much of a challenge, consolidating your

reporting channels likely is. Businesses want to

be able collect, process and analyze, and

distribute the data they are able to collect

through their website.

As you build out your website, make sure you

have a discussion about how data will be

collected and reported. Your web designer

should be able to help you set up a Google

Analytics profile or show you where you can

find data within the CMS you’ve chosen to use.

Big Data isn’t a problem for you to get your

hands on if you set up the collection strategy

and process right from the start. If you’re

redesigning a website and not setting a brand

new one up, determine whether or not you’re

past data results will still be available and

whether or not the same strategies will work with

the new website you’re business is developing

and designing. Organized data and

consolidated reporting channels are a must and

can’t be ignored during website design and

development.

Small business owners spend 3 hours per

week on managing company websites, blogs

and social media accounts4. 33% of midsize

businesses currently use and 28% plan to

use BI solutions, among small businesses,

just 16% currently use and 16 % plan to use

BI solutions5.

Web analytics can help you determine what

content on your site and what elements of the

design are keeping customers coming back and

which are driving the customer away. If you

spend more than those 3 hours per week

optimizing your site and online presence, think of

the advantage you’ll have over competitors.

Having business intelligence and web analytics

tools can help you make better decisions about

what to feature on your site and even what to

feature in stores. As you design a website for

your business, make sure you’re taking into

account the data collection and analysis

opportunities.

4. “Small Business Survey,” Intuit, Nov. 2011.

5. “2011 Small and Medium Businesses Routes to Market Study,” SMB Group, Sept. 2011

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Integrate Customer Contact Points

As mentioned on the previous page, your

strategies should be consolidated. In doing so,

you may find that your customer contact

points, from the “Contact Us” form to your

Facebook page, aren’t integrated as

seamlessly. Customers prefer connecting with

businesses through a variety of methods such

as:

With the customer experience at the forefront of

your web design considerations, take a look at

the chart on the left. Your website design can

impact the quality of the customer service you

deliver. Your site content, online assistance

capabilities and social presence are all elements

to take into account with the design of your small

business.

Integrating these points of contact and

making yours readily available for interested

customers are key components of a successful

web design.

Many larger companies offer social sign-in

for users on their site or live chat and

support for customers visiting their website.

Consider the points of contact your

customers will have with your business and

how you can incorporate each into the

design of your small business’s website.

Remember, not all vendors will be the best fit for

your business. Knowing which elements are the

most important, from SEO to data collection, can

help you rule out providers. If you want to

integrate customer contact points, make sure

you include where customers can reach you

online and through social media at the very

least. Live chat and web assistants often call for

a bigger budget.

Better Human Service

Integrate More Channels

Enriched Content

Web Assistants or Avatars

Other

Support Social Communities

• Blog posts and on-site content

• Social media networks

• In-person interactions

• Phone conversations

The Most Requested Customer

Service Improvement from

Customers6

6. “The Cost of Poor Customer Service” by Genesys Global Survey, 2009

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Summary These eight best practices for small business web design

can help you level the playing field with larger organizations.

Focusing on the user experience and the data your business

can gain from a strong design are great places to begin your

redesign. Before you move forward with a website design

project, you’ll want to consider how often site content will be

updated, how many pages and sections you’ll need, your

ultimate design goals and how you want to achieve those.

Hiring a professional and/or doing research into how your

site can be the most successful is a must.

Visit Business.com for more information about web design.