Month: August 2022

Business these days is highly digital.

Using the capabilities of the internet, we can communicate with other people across the world in real-time, without having to board a plane or boat, or having to drive to wherever they are.

 Resultantly, we can pitch our ideas, goods, or services; negotiate, receive payment, and ship orders to clients in a matter of minutes – conducting business effectively within the comfort of our offices or homes.

To do this, however, you need a website.

 

Why exactly do you need a website for your business? Here are 10 reasons :

 

1. Online office

Your website functions as an online office for your business, in a summarized, highly portable format.

People from all over the world can visit your office and see what you have to offer just by typing your domain name into a browser.

And just like that, you have a global audience of billions, with no limitations to the number of people you can reach. 

 

2. Credibility badge

These days, the first thing people ask for when you talk about your business is your website.

84% of today’s consumers think a website makes your business more credible than companies that only have social media profiles.

If you’re a company trying to get investors or market share, you will run into this request almost every time.

And if you don’t have the website, chances are you won’t get the deal.

Having one shows a considerable degree of seriousness and even traction in your growth as a business.

 

 

3. Visible to anyone at any time

Your physical office is located on a particular road, in a particular town, and closes at a particular time.

On the other hand, your website is available to anyone, anywhere, and has no closing time.

All those clients you were missing out on because they came after closing hours, can see your online office even at midnight.

4. No need for clients to move in person to see your goods and services

People love convenience. They want their lives to be as easy as possible. And the internet has made this a reality.

Now, no matter what we want, we just go online and look for it.

If I have a wedding coming up and I’m looking for decorators, I won’t drive all the way from Jinja to Kampala to see what’s in your store. I’ll simply check online for a store with what I want.

 

 

5. Allows you to sell products online

The biggest companies have already been doing this for a while.

Look at Amazon. It makes sales worth billions of dollars every year to clients all over the world.

Jumia right here in Uganda has taken over online shopping, closely followed by the likes of Jiji and Kikuubo.

KFC, Javas, and Food Hub all sell food online and provide delivery.

Two sites we’ve built, Eliwares Ug and Misoshiru Family are selling online too. Why not you?

6. Social Proof

Before committing to making a purchase, most people look to see how others think of the business providing the service or commodity.

They want to be sure the person or business they’re giving their money to is trustworthy and will deliver as expected.

This is where it pays to have a well-built website with testimonials and customer reviews from your previous clients, which speak for themselves and get you new clients.

 

 

7. encourage customers to contact you

A website is a great place to make your contact information easily available to potential customers.

You can even publish your contact information at the top or bottom on every single page.

Websites also come with a ‘Contact Us’ form that invites visitors to reach out to you just by filling in their message or inquiry and email address.

 

 

 

8. Make it easy FOR CLIENTS TO LOCATE YOU

The best website designers in Uganda create websites that come with integrations to Google Maps, which provides a pinpoint location embedded on the page for clients to get to your premises easily. 

They can view what street your business is on, nearby landmarks, and any other information they may need for the journey.

Google Maps even allows them to simply tag the location as their immediate destination and guides them step-by-step to your door. 

 

9. Makes it easy to market your brand

The main result of all these advantages? It makes it easy for you, and others, to market your brand.

No need for people to come to your office, or even speak to you directly.

Wherever they are, whatever time, they can use your website to see your goods and services, contact you, place orders, and even recommend you.

If your website is well-built and your services are great, your brand will be marketed for you even as you sleep.

10. A website ensures your success over the long term

As of January 2021, almost 4.66 billion people (59.5% of the global population) used the Internet. In many countries, that number is much higher. In the US, for example, over 90% of people are online.

Without a website, your business is invisible to these people.

As we progress further into the digital era, your business will become invisible to everyone unless you invest in a website.

So to stay competitive in this increasingly digital world, your business needs to get online.

 

If you need professional website designers in Uganda to build you a website, improve the existing one – or help get more traffic to it – please reach out to us any time.

The average internet viewer’s attention span is just a couple of seconds.

 

So if you’re lucky enough to get website visitors, you have to make the experience of viewing your website as smooth and painless as possible.

 

This increases engagement, reduces bounce rates, and gives Google a favorable impression of your website – which can lead to a higher search ranking later on.

 

So what exactly do you need to focus on to get started?

 

How to optimize your site and get more website traffic

 

1. Looks

Make sure your website is attractive, well-designed, and simple.

 

You want to wow your visitors with stunning images and a smooth feel to the viewing experience without clogging the page.

 

Less is more, especially here.

 

 

2. Focus on mobile.

 

 

If you didn’t already know, Google now indexes and ranks your website based on the mobile version of the site – given that a larger number of people now browse using mobile devices instead of desktops.

 

How well it runs on mobile devices is referred to as ‘mobile-friendliness’.

 

So while you build your awesome website, ensure it’s just as fresh and easy to use on mobile.

 

The better the experience, the better the chances of ranking higher and more website traffic.

 

3. Navigation

 

Imagine being stuck on a site, struggling to find the section you’re looking for. Would you keep trying, or would you go to the next alternative provider?

 

It’s the same thing with your website. Even your most interested viewers will abandon your website if it’s difficult to find what they came for.

 

So make it easy for viewers to find what they need.

 

Have an organized layout with clearly defined sections, and add page links to all the relevant parts of your site.

 

These can be in the navigation bars at the top and bottom of the website, as well as within the page content. 

 

4. Speed

 

Remember the attention span?

 

If a consumer is searching for an item and clicks on your website, and it takes forever to load – with all your fancy images and videos – they’ll quit and check out the next website.

 

That not only results in a loss of clientele, it also hurts your ranking on Google.

 

So ensure your site doesn’t take longer than 3.8seconds to load.

 

 

You can check out your loading speed, as well as the issues to be fixed, using GT Metrix or Page Speed Insights

 

5. Use smaller-sized images.

 

 

Naturally, you want to impress your viewers with beautiful images.

 

However, images take time to load – with more time required for every increase in size and resolution.

 

Solution? Resize and compress those images before uploading them.

 

This not only improves loading speed but also reduces data consumption by viewers – making your website a great viewing experience for your clients. 

 

6. Attractive, user-focused headlines

 

Yes, it is your website, and you want to tell the world about you and what you do.

 

But no one is interested in anything other than how to solve their problems.

 

So switch the focus from you to your audience.

 

Tell them what they can benefit from using your products and services. 

 

 

7. Product / Service description

 

Be clear and detailed in describing your services or products.

 

Use easy-to-use language so all viewers can understand and get the message.

 

Tell them how your product works.

 

Show pictures of examples where possible. 

 

8. Social proof

 

Get testimonials and reviews from your clients, and then display them on your website.

 

These serve as proof that your company really does exist, does what it says it does, and does it well.

 

 

9. Content

 

Study your audience.

 

Find out their needs and day-to-day challenges.

 

Then create useful, engaging content on how to help them, without necessarily asking them to buy. 

 

These freebies will get you traffic, and traffic definitely results in sales.

 

10. Backlinks

 

Backlinks are links on other websites that link back to your website.

 

For example, if someone read this amazing article about how reading can change your life, and wanted to share it so they posted the link on their own website, they’d have created a backlink to my website.

 

This new link allows viewers of their website to access my site through those links.

 

So you can ask your readers to share your content, or you can reach out to other websites in your niche and see if they can link to you.

 

Note: Google also uses backlinks as a ranking factor, with a high number of quality backlinks required to establish Experience, Trust, and Authority as a domain.

 

11. Advertise

 

 

Create advertising campaigns using Google Ads or Social Media to get as many people as possible to see your beautiful, well-optimized website.

 

By this point, your site has everything the viewers need and more.

 

Almost all your visitors will leave with a good impression, leading to return visits and referrals.

So, that’s how you can create a great user experience for your viewers and get more website traffic.

 

Also, keep in mind, that whatever makes your viewers happy, makes Google happy – essentially performing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website.