Running a company takes a lot of your capacity. When you’re in the throes of day-to-day operations, it’s easy to put some finer details on cruise control. This is especially true when your business is doing well or maintaining a comfortable status.
Sometimes, however, the details carry more weight than you may think. Your website is one place where keeping up is crucial. Here are four areas you should avoid neglecting.
- Point of Sale System
If your website’s home page is the virtual storefront for your shop, your point of sale system is the cash register area. Customers don’t want to search for the register in a brick-and-mortar store. They also don’t want to wait in long lines or have difficulty trying to pay.
A high-quality quilt store POS is vital for many reasons. The Small Business Administration describes it as a tool beyond ringing up the customer’s purchase. It adds functionality by helping you streamline your business operations. If you have multiple business locations — say, for example, you sell in person at barn markets and craft fairs in addition to your online store — a solid POS integrates sales from all the places you do business.
Your point-of-sale system can also help you manage inventory, schedule class signups and calculate accurate shipping rates. Consolidating these functions not only makes a good impression on your customers but also makes doing business a little easier for you.
- Website Design
You may focus your creative energy on your shop, but your website deserves some attention. A poorly designed website can be a significant turnoff for shoppers.
An out-of-date site can take a long time to load. Customers don’t want to wait, and if your page is slow to show up on the screen, they may click away before visiting your site. Their fast exit can lead to lower search engine rankings, making your company harder to find.
A poor design can be a turnoff for customers, especially if your competitors have user-friendly sites. People are less likely to make an effort to use your site if they don’t have a particular preference for your store.
Ensure your website looks attractive when first opened. It should also load correctly on phone, desktop and tablet platforms.
- Company Information
Outdated information is a big problem for a business. If your site displays landline numbers that are out of service, old addresses, or outdated product photos, you can end up misleading your customers.
Check your site in detail to find outdated information. Look for some of the following potential issues:
- Broken links
- Outdated contact information
- Announcements for promotions that ended
- Incorrect product pricing
While you’re at it, make sure your contact information appears on each page of your site. Customers appreciate finding your phone number or contact form link quickly and easily.
- Navigation
Customers want to navigate websites easily without hunting for links. When they arrive at your home page, they should be able to tell right away who you are and what products and services you offer. You don’t want to bury other information too deeply within your site, but you also don’t want a home page that overwhelms viewers with too many choices at once. A search bar is a useful and convenient way for people to find things.
Your navigation bar should be straightforward — not too few items but not too many. If you want to consolidate, try creating sub-menus within the main navigation bar. Consider adding an “About Us” hyperlink so that customers can learn about your shop. Many people consider this section standard in navigation bars along with “Contact Us” and “Shop” or similar titles.
Make sure you have alt text for your site images. It helps people who cannot view images understand your page better. Alt text also optimizes your images for better search rank.
Keep Your Store Tidy and Easy To Use
You may need to make website upkeep a regular feature on your to-do list. If you aren’t used to doing so, it can seem like a lot of busy work. However, your efforts pay off when customers find your site to be a pleasure to use. When they can navigate easily and enjoy a quick POS experience, they are more likely to spread the word about your shop and boost your business.
