Jewelry-Making Articles

Tweaking Your Beading Business Website to Keep it Fresh

Whether you operate your beading business from home or have a rented storefront, chances are you have a website to go along with your company. In the digital age, it's a necessity to have some sort of presence on the Internet.

People are turning to the Internet for their necessities for a number of reasons. First, it's easier to shop online because you don't have to worry about actually heading to the store. All of the browsing you need to do can be completed on a single website. When it comes time to buy, there's no waiting in line: just one click and it's charged to your debit or credit card.

Launching a website for your beading business is the first step toward making the most of the Internet, and you'll typically find there is room for improvement. Hosting a website is a full-time responsibility, and if you fail to keep up with it, your customers will notice. Entrepreneur.com and Inc.com say there are a few ways you can tweak your page to make sure it complies with your clients' demands.

  1. Ensure that the website is quick to load. Too often, business owners forget to test drive their own pages. You might not even know your website is slow until you begin to see a dip in traffic. A sluggish page can turn away visitors for a number of reasons.

    First, the average person surfing the web likely doesn't have the patience to wait for your page to load, especially if they can find something similar elsewhere in a matter of seconds. Next, a slow web page can make visitors feel like something isn't right. If they can't even load the main page, who's to say their account information will be protected when they attempt to make a transaction?

    To speed up your website, try to reduce the number of images you have on your home page. Specifically, steer clear of Flash that can cause the site to slow down. Also, try to compress images to a lower resolution to cut down on the loading time.

  2. Update the copyright. Although this may seem like a frivolous concern, visitors to your website want to know they're viewing recent information. The copyright of a website is typically listed at the bottom of every page. To make sure you're keeping visitors in the loop about your recent changes, update the copyright as necessary. Not everyone looks for it, but those who do will be appreciative of the fact that you take care of your website.

  3. Keep track of your competitors. Oftentimes, you can learn an ample amount of information from what other beading businesses are doing on their websites to meet client demands. This means visiting their pages from time to time to see what they're doing differently from you. Jot down a few things that you notice and take them into account when viewing your own website.

    Of course, this doesn't mean you should go out and completely copy their methodology. Take it with a grain of salt and build your own style off of it.

  4. Make small updates on a routine basis. One of the easiest ways to allow your website to go stale and lose its popularity is to fail to update it on a regular basis. While you should always be updating it with information, not everyone who visits your site is there to read the fine print. Oftentimes, it's the new graphics and pictures that catch their attention.

    Bring in a professional on a routine basis to tweak your layout every now and then. It doesn't have to be anything drastic: even a change of colors or a couple new pictures can do the trick. The goal is to give your visitors an immediate indication that your website is up and running with new content. This will also give them a reason to come back: if they know there may be new information, it's worth another look.


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