Josselyn Jara: tips for SMEs on improving your website

Josselyn Jara is a Business BSc(Hons) student, taking our optional Digital Marketing module in her final year. I wanted to share her blog post, which forms part of her coursework, on how SMEs can improve their websites.

The Internet has transformed business marketing to promote via a website, blogs, email, and social media (Marketing Donut, 2017).  Social media marketing is a popular and effective marketing tool, due to its accessibility and reach to customers. However, all marketing platforms are directed to the business website, with links or as a call to action. When a customer enters an organisation website they typically do so in order to find information on a given product/service or to undertake a particular transaction, such as purchasing a product/service (Taylor & England, 2006). Rowley (2000) stated that consumers approaches to product searching on a website are a key factor in successful e-business and that any approaches that can enhance product visibility and ease of location are key in defining and maintaining a competitive advantage. This blog aims to provide tips to make a business website effective.

So what should a business consider to implement on their website?

User-friendly

Fundamentally a user-friendly website allows greater navigation to locate information or undertake a transaction (Taylor & England, 2006). In website marketing terms, the more difficult it is for the consumer to locate what they are looking for on a website, the greater the likelihood that the consumer will simply give up and use a different website instead (Taylor & England, 2006). Clear call to action, can help provide a user-friendly design while optimising, as it directs users to required pages and provides a focus to the website (Boag, 2017). This is beneficial for small businesses that have a limited budget, as it is a useful technique to convert visitors into customers.

Source: Josselyn Jara