Creating a website for a local business is just like developing any other piece of real estate on the web because appearance, functionality, and content will be your chief concerns. However, there are a few extra steps that can be taken to help a company's site gain a favourable position over the competition and achieve increased visibility on both a local and global level. In particular, local service providers and retail stores should be incorporating local web design methods in their site structure and content strategies. Overall, any business that relies heavily on local sales can benefit from a diversified web presence, but to make sure it's done right, be sure to follow these five tips along the way:

1. Have Your Local Phone Number Clearly Displayed

One of the most important aspects of local web design is effectively displaying contact and address information. Every main page on your site should display your local and toll-free numbers in large, clear font. Having the numbers float within a content box in the top right corner of the screen is a popular method. Some businesses make the mistake of only having a toll-free number for their business, but listing a regional number as well may encourage more locals to call. For example, if your business is based in Leeds, then you'd want to make your local telephone number clearly visible on all pages of the site.

2. Include Your Mapped Location on the Home and About Us Pages

Aside from your contact info, you also want your business to be easy to locate. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to list your company's address and overview within the Google Maps business directory. Once you've done that, you should be able to embed a map of your business location on your website. Doing this will make it easier for potential customers to view your location in proximity to theirs. When visitors can quickly see that a company is based nearby they're more likely to do business versus the alternative of having to find your address and then look it up on a map themselves.

3. Create and Maintain a Well-Rounded Blog

A great way to attract web traffic and make your brand more widely known is to include a blog on your official site. That way you can cover current events and important topics related to your industry. The more content your site has, the more likely it is to rank for different keywords and appear at the top of search results for the terms and queries that your target audience is searching for.

4. Offer Live Chat

Offering live chat is a great way for local business sites to push the issue and provide top notch customer service to every site visitor. Plus, it's easy to install a live chat support plug in that will automatically greet visitors with a pre-set message. This keeps you from having to manually welcome every visitor while also letting all of them know that chat is available. When a visitor decides to send a message through the chat box you'll receive a notification that prompts you to respond. Best of all, many of these plugins are compatible with proprietary mobile apps that will let you respond to visitor chats from anywhere using a smartphone or tablet.

5. Include a Call to Action on Every Page

The call to action (CTA) is a critical component of every company web page because it encourages the primed visitor to take the next step. Numerous marketing studies have shown that pages containing CTAs are more likely to convert into sales and desired actions compared to those that do not. That is why you see SEO backlinking campaigns launched mainly for pages with CTAs on them. Luckily, if you neglected this step initially it shouldn't be too difficult to add a CTA to all of your most popular pages. Incorporating this aspect of site design is as simple as authoring a small blurb at the end of each page, or instructing your writers to do so.

The Benefits of Optimising the Design of a Local Business Website

Contrary to popular misconception, the web isn't only for global businesses. By creating and promoting an optimal online headquarters, locally based companies stand to gain a great deal of brand recognition, exposure, and a tangible increase in other vital marketing metrics.

Bookmark this article with:

 •    •    •