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The importance of having a website for your business cannot be over emphasized. A website can add lots of value and go a long way in helping a business achieve its goals. Some benefits of a business website include projecting a good online presence, driving traffic and increasing sales. We explained better in a previous article some of the reasons why a business needs a website.

In order for a website to be effective and serve its purpose, it’s important to ensure that the website have some particular features. Here are some important features that you should consider and add when designing a website for your business.

Contact Information

A website should make it easy for visitors to contact the business. Some visitors will want to get in touch to make enquiries or patronize your services. Contact details such as phone number, email address and office location should be present and placed where it’s easy to locate on the website. Another means of making communication possible is to use contact forms. You can also include directions to the business location to make it easy for people intending to visit you. Embedding Google maps on the website is a common way of providing directions.

About Information

This refers to the information about the business, a website should articulate in clear terms what the business does without leaving anyone guessing. This can be done by creating an about page that has details of the business, the values, mission and vision and profile of the team members. Having a services page will also help explain what the business has to offer.

Security - SSL certificate

SSL certificate refers to an advanced encryption technology which helps secure the data and information which visitors enter on a website. When an SSL certificate is installed on a website it will have an Https which ensures that any data or information remains confidential, this will protect the website and information from phishing attacks and hacking. The security of a website is also a factor which influences search engine ranking because Google places importance on security.

Mobile Responsiveness

In recent years there has been a huge rise in the way people use smart phones to browse on the internet, people look for information and browse the internet while on the go. Statistics have shown that a large percent of website traffic worldwide is from mobile phones. Hence it’s important for your business website to work well on mobile phones and devices of different screen sizes. Mobile responsiveness provides users with a good experience and is also a factor that can influence the search engine ranking positively. The most popular search engine Google prioritizes mobile responsiveness and tend to give higher ranking to websites that are responsive.

Clear Navigation

Navigation refers to how people move around on your website, making it simple and intuitive will improve the experience of visitors to the website. Users will want to visit sections or pages within your website and if it is hard to move around or find information this will lead to frustration. Most users will exit a website when they have a frustrating experience and this can lead to loss in potential income for the business.

There are some best practices when it comes to designing a good navigation for your website. There should be a main menu that will be obvious and consistent on all pages of the website. The menu will include links to the most important pages on the website. The main menu could be on top or sidebar of the page, this will make it easy for users to locate and click on the links to the pages they want to visit. The links to the most important pages can also be included on the footer section of the website. Another tip is to ensure that the logo links to the homepage, this will enable users go back to the homepage from the other pages. The structure of the pages should be arranged in a hierarchical manner; the use of breadcrumbs and active links can also help the users identify the section of the website they are browsing at every point in time.

Call to Action

Websites are built with the purpose of getting users to complete a particular action which benefits the business. Creating a good website won’t be complete without adding call to actions that encourage visitors to take some actions on the website. The action can vary depending on the business and/or its goals. Example of the desired actions a business might want users to take include signing up for newsletters, contacting the business,  placing an order for a product, completing a contact form e. t. c.

The call to action should be compelling enough to encourage the users to take the desired action. The effectiveness of the call to action will determine the rate at which website traffic will convert to sales or patronage.

Bonus: Other features

On page Search engine optimization

Testimonials, case studies

Pictures and videos

Blog, comment feature

Frequently Asked questions (FAQ)

Search function

Conclusion

A website will benefit a business in several ways and to make it effective it is important to build a website such that it is easily navigable, makes visitors/users feel safe to browse the website, communicate up to date information about the business and makes it easy to contact you.

A website with these features will be liked by both users and search engines and adequately reflect the brand of the business.

This article was originally posted on https://www.helithdigital.com (https://www.helithdigital.com/6-features-a-business-website-should-have/)

Having a professional website for your business in 2019 can provide immense value to your business.

If you are still in doubt about having a website, here are 5 reasons to convince you on how establishing an online presence with a website will help your business grow and contribute towards achieving your business objectives.

1. To Showcase Your Products and Services

2. Enhance your Brand, convince Customers

3. Show Professionalism

4. Search Engine Optimisation

5. Customer Support

Check the infographic for more details.


If you are considering getting a professional website developed for your business, you can reach out to us via contact@helithdigital.com.
We believe in a comprehensive strategy to building websites that maximises exposure of the brand and attracts ideal customers. We have a track record of success for clients by building good looking and functional websites and achieving increased online traffic and revenue gains.

This article was originally posted on www.helithdigital.com (www.helithdigital.com/why-your-business-needs-a-website-in-2019/)

Author: Oladapo Babarinde is the Managing Partner at Helith Digital, a Website design agency based in Lagos, Nigeria. Helith Digital helps businesses win online by creating websites that attract visitors and convert to customers and more sales.

What is Https?

Https means HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure, while Http is HyperText Transfer Protocol. Https is the secure version of Http. Http refers to the procedure by which information is shared between websites, servers and browsers. The S in Https refers to the security and assurance that visitors to a website have their information protected. With Https on a website, visitors can provide information, perform transactions and browse through the website without fear of getting hacked or their information getting exposed.

What is SSL?

The technology that makes the information shared on website secure is known as SSL, Secure Sockets Layer. According to Instant SSL, SSL is the standard security technology (https protocol) used in establishing an encrypted connection between a web server and browsers. Information is exchanged between the browser of the visitor to a website and the server where the website is hosted

An Https connection can be installed by using an SSL certificate which allows for data encryption. The certificate is an electronic document used to authenticate the identity and security of the website. With an https connection all the information is encrypted and this helps to prevent hacking and phishing attacks. Https connection ensures that all data exchanged between the browser and web server remains private. When a website has https connection, the information of visitors to the website becomes protected from being hacked by people with malicious intentions. The information can include passwords, bank card details, emails addresses and contact details.

When a website doesn’t have an SSL certificate installed it means the data that will be shared online between the browser and website is not encrypted, is susceptible to attacks and hackers can gain access and view sensitive user information easily.

In 2017 Google Chrome browser started marking websites without Https connection has insecure.

Why Your Business Website Needs An SSL Secure Connection?

Search Engine Optimization, SEO Ranking

Https connection became even more important when Google announced that having a secure connection is now one of the factors that affects website’s ranking on search engines. Google’s motive for necessitating the switch from Http to https was to ensure online security and make users safe on the web. Google has made it clear that websites will be rank based on how good the experience for user is including factors such as relevant and useful content, pagespeed and online security. A secure connection will help to boost your search engine rankings.

Security

SSL certificates provide security for your website information and prevent your website and the information shared on it from malicious attacks. The website information could range from very sensitive information such as credit card details to basic information such as name, phone numbers and contact addresses.

Win Customers Trust

Customers can become afraid when they access your website and see that your website is not secure and shows the red warning sign with a not-secure text. Users want to protect their bank card information and avoid losses. A non secure connection can prevent users from taking actions that help achieve your business goals. The consequences are abandonment of cart on ecommerce websites or users refusing to provide information such as names, contact addresses, email addresses, signing up for newsletters, login or other purposes. With an SSL certificate and secure connection your business can easily win customers trust and have credibility, when users see the padlock icon in the browser they will have more trust and confidence to take actions that benefit your business.

How to Install an SSL Certificate

Buy or issue SSL certificate online. There are both free certificates such as Let’s Encrypt and premium certificates such as Comodo which can be bought from Hosting providers. Here is a guide on the types of SSL certificates.
To ensure good search engine ranking you should add an Https version of your website to Google Search Console for SEO purposes.
You can also force Https across all pages of your website; this means ensuring users only access your website over a secure connection.
If you do not want to get your hands dirty in technical matters, you can enlist a website developer to help you with buying, issuing and installing an SSL certificate. At Helith Digital an SSL certificate is one of the things we install before launching a new website or publishing a redesign.

Conclusion

Having a secure connection on your website poses several benefits including establishing the trust of users to browse your website, provide information and carry out transactions where applicable. It also helps with the visibility and ranking of your business website on search engines which will in turn result in new leads and clients. A secure connection will help you prevent security breaches on your website which can cause downtime or loss in income.

Whether your website is a corporate website, ecommerce store or blog, having an Https connection is a required best practice for websites. Installing a secure connection helps protects the privacy and security of your users. In addition, your business will have an upper hand on competitors who have non-https and insecure websites.

Contact us to help with installing an SSL certificate and secure connection on your website.

This article was originally published on www.helithdigital.com (https://www.helithdigital.com/what-is-https-and-3-reasons-why-your-business-website-needs-an-ssl-certificate/)

Helith Digital is a Web Design Company based in Lagos, we create functional websites that helps businesses have a robust online presence, drive traffic and convert to sales or specific business goals.

A website is the first point of contact with your company. A business website is the most important element in online marketing and is even more vital than the business social media profiles. Your website showcases the uniqueness and integrity of your brand and convinces people to patronize you. According to a Missouri University Study, it takes less than two-tenths of a second for an online visitor to form a first opinion of your brand once they have viewed your company's website.

In the same way that cars, smartphones and other things go out of date, websites can also become outdated. Does your website still serve its purpose effectively? Here are 6 reasons why you should consider redesigning your website.

Not Mobile Friendly
If your website is not responsive or mobile friendly, it might be time to redesign it. A responsive website is one that is easily navigable and accessible across different devices and screen sizes. A responsive design provides good user experience on all devices. Mobile usage of websites has overtaken desktop usage. According to reputable statistics portal Statista, 52% of visits to websites originate from mobile devices. Hence it is important for a website to be usable and easily navigable on mobile devices.

Google can now tell if your website is mobile friendly or not and it affects how your website is discovered when searched online. Google has even provided a tool where you can test if your website is mobile friendly.

SEO Ranking is Poor
If your website is not performing well in ranking compared to competitors then you should consider redesigning the website. Your company’s website can be a very good source of lead generation and revenue for your business. If the ranking is poor then you might be missing out on some revenue. It is important to carry out an SEO audit first to determine the strong and weak aspects of the current website. Things to consider when redesigning the new website is the page load speed, the keywords, custom page Urls, meta descriptions, title tags, alt tags, relevant content and links. A website’s SEO ranking can also be influenced by mobile friendly it is.

Website Performance is bad and Visits are not converting into Sales.
The performance of your website really matters. The average online consumer expects your pages to load in two seconds or less, after three seconds, up to 49% will abandon your site. The slower your site is, the more likely that the visitor will abandon it, and the fewer time spent on your website the less your chances of converting visitors to customers. 88% of online consumers are unlikely to return to a site after a bad experience. You can use tools such as Gtmetrix and Google Pagespeed Insights to check your website speed.

Some websites are not been maintained and have broken links or features that are not working properly. You can measure your website’s average Bounce Rate and if it is high you need to figure out what the issue is and redesign the website to make visitors stick around more and take the actions your business wants such as making purchases.

Website does not reflect your Brand and Service Offerings
Redesigning your website presents an opportunity to properly showcase your brand and services. Your website is the 247 sales representative for your brand, hence it should capture the essence of the business, present your services and project a good brand image.

The website content such as images, logo, copy should be consistent with your current brand style guide. A new design might be needed to communicate your values better and get the credibility of customers. You should also consider a redesign if the list of services that you provide has changed since the previous website design. If your website is not up to date it can prevent you from getting clients from online marketing because the required awareness for your services has not been created.

If your Website cannot be easily updated
If you desire to greater control over your website, and want to be able to perform activities such as updating and uploading content then you should consider a new design. Your website might have been built a long time ago or with outdated technology which did not provide an easy means to manage and upload content. With a website redesign, a Content Management System such as WordPress can be used to make it easy for website owners to operate and upload content without possessing coding skills or technical knowledge.

Website looks old and outdated
With design trends changing from time to time, it is important to design a new and improved website to attract customers. For your website to benefit the business, it has to give a good first impression. New designs can be based on feedback gotten from users on the experience and make the websites more usable. If your competitors’ websites have been redesigned recently and become more functional, they might be getting ahead of you with regards to online marketing.

Conclusion

Having a beautiful, usable and responsive website will help you drive traffic and engage customers for better results and increase your profits. You need a website that can help your business stand out among the competition and rank well in Google search results. If your website falls within any of the above category, then it is time to get an expert to update the design to a unique and user friendly one that can convert visitors into customers.

This article was originally posted on Helithdigital.com. (http://helithdigital.com/why-your-website-needs-to-be-redesigned/)

Author: Oladapo Babarinde is a partner at Helith Digital, a Web design Company based in Lagos. Helith Digital helps businesses win online by creating websites that attract visitors and convert to customers and more sales.