Features on a website

[SDLBiz]

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering what features everyone uses on their business website. When I talk about features, I mean maps, forums, events etc. I am doing some market research for a business I am setting up and will appreciate all responses.

Thank you,
Sam Lowe

 

[DesignerNick]

Hi

It really depends on the business doesn't it as to the features? Ie a hotel should have a reservation system whereas a takeaway would have an ordering system etc.

 

[fisicx]

This is easy:

A list of the services you provide
Testimonials
Examples of the services you provide
Your contact details

Everything else is just bling. Keep it simple, the more distractions you add the less you will convert.

 

[Ideaswise]

Yes, it all depends on what you want to achieve. Certainly a basic site should include what fisicx indicated. I would also consider a Why choose us' page where you list the main differentiators from your competitors.

 

[adamo]

Though it can be good to simplify your website by only having a few pages, I'd recommend creating a unique 'landing page' for each of your services, rather than just listing them all as bullet points on a generic 'Services' page. From an SEO standpoint, this will give you an advantage of being able to better target your website at people searching for the products/services you provide.

 

[bluedreamer]

Depends on the type of business but as @fisicx said it should boil down the the basics.

Put yourself in a customers shoes, what information/features might you look for? The answer should be self evident!

 

[#ServicedOffices]

Although its not what you asked I think its important to perform SEO on your site including using microtext etc. to help your search engine listing stick out. For example, customer rating, pricing, "breadcrumbs", addresses, videos ... which show up in Google.

This isn't so applicable for all businesses so much. The features required have to be relevant to what your business is.

Back to what you asked... avoid a forum, they are hard to engage people to contribute and ever since twitter and facebook got so dominant they are less popular (of course many popular forums, but very few and far between)... if you have a forum where no one has posted for a month or two... it looks awful... or the alternative is a forum where its regularly posted in with spam links.

It used to be advised to have a blog to bring useful content alongside your main website, however, with limited time available many small businesses focus more on social media than their own blogs these days. If you cannot find enough time or reason for a minimum of 6-7 detailed blog posts per month its probably not worth bothering with.

The biggest annoyance as an outsider... is business websites that aren't updated or lack proper functionality.
So I would rather:

• a conference centre didn't have an online event feature if they didn't update the one they had
• an ecommerce retailer didn't have a shop if it allowed you to order something only to cancel the order later because they don't ship to your location
• a website not to have a map, if their map location is incorrect such as their old location before they moved
• a shop not to publicise their opening hours if they haven't updated it when they changed it
• a price list to a cafe or restaurant so out of date its a big shock at the price when you get there

You get the picture... so in my eyes features are only relevant if kept up to date and functional.

 

[Ataata]

Basic pages/sections are about us/service/case studies/contact + any other system needed like shop, reservation system or sign up etc...

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Hi Sam,

In answer to your question we use a Forum, Blog, and Integrated Client Area/Shopping cart.

I hope that helps,

Dan

 

[Yaham_barry]

Sam

What kind of business will you set up?

 

[amac]

I think if you're an ecommerce business (website), it's all about the product(s). Services are more tricky; testimonials are great for example but it really depends on the service you offer.

 

[JonnyMP]

I have a built in blog on my website, which is great for SEO as it allows me to add constantly updated content daily or weekly as needed. If I had to recommend one other feature for anyone with a product related site, it would be a helpdesk where customers can submit help tickets for assistance with product issues. You can get a free plugin for helpdesk for your Wordpress blog or simply install a customer related forum on your blog or site for this purpose.