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Optimize Your Website: Part Two

Website design

Last week we established website goals—including informing your customers and increasing revenue—as well as where to start. During part two of “Optimize Your Website” we’ll cover how to accomplish those two goals.

Inform your Customers

Customers come to your website for information. Feature what makes your business unique and what you do best. Further, on each page, ask yourself “What do I want my customer to do after visiting this page?”

That’s when your call-to-action comes in. Each page on your site should include a clear and concise call to action to encourage your customers to stay engaged. This can be as simple as: Shop Now, View All, or Sign Up.

Increase Revenue with Website Design

There are multiple ways your website can help you increase revenue. The first is through your website’s design.

The first piece of advice is to keep it simple. First, this makes information easier to find. Second, a simple website is easier to maintain. If a customer has to click on your site more than three times to find information they need, your design needs to be simpler.

Another way to have simple design is through maintaining branding. Colors should be similar to your brand, and images should be clear and clutter-free as well.

Other design pieces to keep in mind is your navigation. Navigation tabs should be organized from most-to-least important.

Another way to increase revenue is through conversation. Integrated communication tools help you answer Frequently Asked Questions at any time of the day.

And of course, your website should be responsive, meaning it should accommodate every device including phones, tablets, and computers.

Last but not least, include a search bar so information is even easier for the end user to access.

Inspiration for this post came from “Increase Your Website’s Value” by Brad Tanner of Rain Retail Software and was published in the April 2022 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

AQR Academy

One last thing before we go! The May AQR Academy workshop is right around the corner on Wednesday, May 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. CST. The event will be hosted by Beth Montpas, Lifestyle Coach, and the topic is Goal Setting – Setting Yourself Up for Success where she’ll cover how to both set your goals up and make them happen.


If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.

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Optimize Your Website

websites

Businesses should leave an impression. These days, most first-impressions are made by websites. Read on to discover how you can optimize this essential online-tool.

Websites: Where to start

Making a website is just like making a quilt — it can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.

The first place to start is by choosing a partner that understands your business. For example, some software providers have solutions for assembling kits, fractional yards and fat quarters that can integrate into inventory management processes.

These same software providers can also add other tools including classes and block of the month subscriptions.

Website goals

The next step is to decide what sort of goals you have for your website.

From the above, increasing productivity is an obvious goal. You can go one-step further and tie in back-end business systems to your site as well. Further, you can make changes in one place and it will automatically update your website and in-store system.

It goes without saying, but your website should also help in two large ways: increase sales and drive foot traffic. To accomplish both of these, you’ll need to inform customers of your products and services, as well as determine how each section of your website will increase revenue. We’ll touch on both of those next week.

Inspiration for this post came from “Increase Your Website’s Value” by Brad Tanner of Rain Retail Software and was published in the April 2022 issue of American Quilt Retailer.


If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.