Your B2B business website essentially serves as the face of your brand to the wide world of the internet. The rise of search engine marketing and smartphone use has allowed businesses of all sizes the opportunity to target new markets for their services, increase sales leads, and build their client base. The internet has also served as a great resource for communication about businesses through online review platforms, news and media coverage and social sharing.
When it comes to your business website, it is more important than ever to pay careful attention to website optimization techniques and content strategy if your business wants to improve your lead generation strategy. Today, we will discuss what features make up a great B2B business website, so your business can improve funding through new online growth.
How has website design changed over recent years?
Website design is no longer just about appearance. Websites are now used more than ever as a sales tool to help grow their business. In order to have a website that effectively functions as a sales tool, a B2B business must consider their target market, messaging, imagery, optimization techniques, code and site structure, navigation, content strategy, performance and more. Each of these elements have an affect on how individuals will find your website; as well as impact their level of engagement.
Restrictions of Template Designs
Some businesses resort to hiring website companies that use template designs as a way to cut costs and save time. What they don’t realize is that template designs can be limiting, can be difficult to manage, and won’t effectively drive the same level of traffic as a custom website design. Template designs don’t easily allow for changes in site structure and content, which can pose issues in the future when it comes to making changes or adding new features to a website.
As your business grows, you need a website that is adaptable in order for it to remain relevant to your brand image. The site structure of a template design also lacks the ability to be optimized for search engine or mobile use. Both of these elements are important for driving new markets of traffic to your brand. Instead, consider making the investment towards a custom website design as it will diversify your brand strategy from competition, can be optimized to improve lead generation and online experience, and allows for a more flexible content presentation.
Website Design Needs for B2B Businesses
- Responsive design
- Simple to navigate
- Optimized for search engine readability
- Ability to integrate with a CMS and/or billing platform
- Optimized for conversions
- Professional imagery that relates to the brand
- Engaging content for new visitors
- Fast performance
- High level of security to prevent data loss or theft
Key Features of an Effective B2B Business Website
Optimized for Search Engine Use
As discussed above, search engines are being used more frequently than ever due to the increase in smartphone use. Search engines are used to find answers to questions, research products and services, and find the locations of businesses. If a business wants to remain competitive in the online space, they must rank well against their competition on the search engines. Why does this matter? Well, Google now receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day. That’s a large market of traffic that could be coming to your website if your rankings are decent. Also, over 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. This means, if you want your business to get noticed by individuals interested in purchasing a product you offer, you may want to consider putting some of your budget toward improving your rankings.
Simple to Navigate
Many first time visitors come to a website in search of something, whether that be information, methods of communication or details about a product or service. It is important that a B2B business website be simple for individuals to find the information they need. If a website has too much content, or is unorganized a visitor is likely to leave and go to a different search result.
It is also important that a business website communicate important information effectively on key pages. The homepage should help guide a visitor to different parts of a website and give a brief description on what is new or exciting about the business. The about page should clearly state the vision and values of an organization to help build trust within the brand. The product pages should be informative, with well chosen imagery to help visitors better understand a product. Video demonstrations can also be helpful for demonstrating how a product or service is used.
Addressing a Visitors Concerns Within Your Messaging
Taking a client focused approach when communicating key messages is an effective way to help individuals better relate to your brand. Instead of making your website focused all about you and what you do, you can instead relate your business solutions to problems that your target market may be facing. For example, let’s say a visitor comes to a website looking for a mattress because they are having trouble sleeping. A business that sells mattresses could address different issues their target customer might be having, such as back pain or discomfort, and show how their mattress helps relieve these issues.
Built in Payment System
It seems obvious, but it is important that your business allows for online payments if products or services are directly for sale on your website. You want to consider the price point of your services and methods of payment your target audience is likely to be using. For example, if your business sells high end jewelry, you may want to offer billing services that allow you to pay over time. Paypal, Sezzle, and Amazon pay are also increasing in popularity, so it is important to include the most up to date payment solutions if they fit the market of your business. Having a custom website designed for your business will allow for easier integration of new payment solutions.
Content that Engages Your Audience
Taking on the customer centric approach to your B2B business website should also take content strategy into consideration. Website content is important for improving search rankings and having your audience engaged for longer periods of time with your website. Your website content should be focused on providing information to your audience, and not just about selling your products or services. This type of content can help build trust in your brand, as they will view you as a resource for information. In order to improve online conversions through your website content, you can utilize internal linking or call to action messaging at the end of your posts.
Professional Branding and Relatable Imagery
If your brand strategy and website imagery are no longer relevant to your business today, you may want to consider updating them to match your current brand image. Branding helps create top of mind awareness among visitors, which can be important especially if they are navigating products and services of brands similar to yours. Well chosen images are also an important component for making your website more impactful. Stock imagery is generic, and images that are too small or out of focus might deter people from your brand. Consider having professional imagery taken to help make your brand more relatable.
Responsive Design
Smartphone use has allowed people to browse the internet more frequently and from just about any location. People are on their phones now more than ever, and 4 out of 5 visitors now shop through smartphones. Upgrading to your business website to a responsive design is important for providing a consistent user experience across any type of device. Over 67% of consumers are willing to buy products if their website is mobile friendly, however many B2B businesses have not yet invested in responsive design. Having a responsive design provides a great user experience and will increase the likelihood that someone will return to your website again.
Having a great business website will help your company generate more leads and improve online sales. Some Key features of a great B2B business website include a responsive design, optimization for search engine use, engaging content, professional imagery and a customer centric focus.
B2B Business Website Design Assistance
Alliance Interactive helps B2B Businesses Websites drive new traffic and increase online engagement through custom website design and development services. We can help your business with any of your digital needs; including upgrading to a responsive design, create a new brand strategy, adding custom imagery or development of a brand new custom website design. Our projects are designed to improve online conversion rate and increase traffic to help your business achieve measurable results.
For more information or to discuss your next project, reach out to us here.