Do's and don'ts of creating your small business website

Many of your large companies already have established websites, so in order to compete as a small business you are also going to need to create a website. But what you need to keep in mind that small business can not create the same types of websites as the larger more popular companies because you won't have the same kind of following. You as a small business owner need to establish your business on the internet and make it stand out from everybody, including you larger companies.

Here are some tips on what you should and shouldn't do when creating your small business website.

Tip one:
Many of your large companies that have a high number of sales can create generalized websites and people will still purchase from them, but small businesses should not create generalized websites. When creating your small business website you will want to focus your website on your specialized products and you want to focus your website on that product.

Tip two:
If what you are selling is the same thing as the more popular stores you can not focus on a specialized product so you will want to focus on how you sell the product. So make sure you provide plenty of information about your customer service policies, including your return policy, shipping and handling, company background, and anything else that is important to your business. Be sure to focus on what the customer is getting, one way to make sure you focus on the customer and not the company is to use the word "you"not the word "us".

Tip three:
Give the customers as much information about the product as you can. Include size charts, dimensions, expert reviews, customer feedback, delivery timetables, shipping rates, and anything else that might be useful to the customer. Be sure to include a picture as well. This will allow the customer to do their research on a certain product on your website, which can increase your chances of sales.

Tip four:
When creating a website you are going to want to make sure that it is user friendly. If your website is too complicated and certain features are not easy to find then customers are just going to move on to a different website. A general guideline to follow is the three click rule, customers shouldn't have to go more then three clicks to find what they are looking for. Another great feature to include is an on-site search facility so that people who know exactly what they want can find it a matter of seconds.

Tip five:
No matter how tempting it is to include flashy artwork or advertisements you don't want you website to appear cluttered and confusing, customers will simply move on to other companies. It is normal to include some advertisements from affiliates, but you are going to want to put them towards the bottom of your page so that your customers see what you have to offer first.

Tip six:
Something that is very important is to provide a privacy policy and a secure website for their transaction. With the potential risks of identity theft customers don't want their names or email addresses just giving out to third parties, so tell your customers what you plan on doing with their information and then hold to it. If you promise not to share information with third parties don't ever do it, trust is the key thing to building a customer base.

Tip seven:
Another great thing to do is to provide a forum or message board for customers to leave any comments or suggestions about your company or the products that you sell. You can also include a frequently asked question section or a question and answer forum so that customers can do even more research on your products with just the click of a mouse. The more information you provide in a clear format the longer the customer might spend on your website if they have unanswered questions.