Creating a website for your new business venture, or revamping your existing website to drive more traffic, engagement and sales can be one of the most exciting and rewarding things you do as a small business owner.

It can also be one of the most daunting.

The fact you’re reading this post means you appreciate just how vital an effective website is to the growth and ongoing success of your business. Your small business website sits at the centre of your digital world: a hub that greets visitors from all of your digital marketing channels and then converts them into paying customers.

It’s vital to get your website right… and that means approaching it with the appropriate mindset from the start. Unfortunately, that’s something many small business owners get wrong.

Who is your small business website really for?

Here’s a clue: your website isn’t for you; it’s not for Google either — no matter how critical high search engine rankings might be to your online success — and it most certainly isn’t for your web designer.

No, your new website needs to appeal to, and connect with, one group of people… and one group of people only: your customers.

Customer First Small Business Websites
Your small business website should aim to make it as easy and efficient as possible for a customer/visitor to achieve their objective.

So remember, when planning your new website it really doesn’t matter whether or not you like a particular design, graphic, colour-scheme, turn-of-phrase or whatever. What matters is whether it resonates with your customers and prospective customers when they arrive on your site.

Other things are still important… but customers always come first

I’m not suggesting you should forget about your business goals, search engines or social media. Far from it. You absolutely need your website to appear in search results for relevant search terms, to share and engage through social channels and deliver on your strategic business goals.

Always bear these other elements in mind when creating your site. Just never forget that everything on your site, from the colour scheme to the navigation to the words on every page, should be filtered through the lens of your prospective customers.

  • How does your page add value?
  • Is it answering a specific question, helping solve a problem, addressing a particular concern?
  • Will it help your customer get more out of your product or service?
  • Ask yourself why your customer has arrived on that particular page, and what are they likely to want when they get there.
  • Are you delivering? Is there a way you can do so more efficiently and effectively?
  • How can you best help them take the next step on their journey to becoming a loyal customer?

Putting visitors first works on all sorts of levels


Doing the right thing for your visitors often means getting things right for Google too.

FACT: if your website makes things easier for visitors it will do better.

  • Because people find your site genuinely useful they’re much more likely to go on to buy/sign up/join, etc.
  • People will share positive experiences with their social connections and through reviews and recommendations
  • Useful content will naturally attract more links from blogs and other sites in your niche, driving targetted, relevant traffic
  • All of which sends the right signals to search engines as they work to rank your content for relevance and authority

Getting the balance right

Ideally, you want your website to strike that elusive balance between delivering what your customers need, ticking the right boxes for search engines and delivering on your business goals.

It can be a tricky thing to nail, but if you truly understand your customers’ needs, put your personal views and preferences aside and approach everything on your website from your customers’ perspective, you’ll end up with a much more effective site.

At West Cork Websites we specialise in helping small businesses like yours create effective mobile and search optimised websites that put your customers first. We’d be delighted to help you with yours: drop us a line using the enquiry form below.

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