There are some basics every good website has, such as beautiful design, fast loading times and good contrast between background and text. However, features that go beyond basic requirements add usability to your site.

Here are some vital features you should consider adding to your small-business website:

Blog

Does your site need a blog? Some might argue it doesn’t, but a blog is a useful feature because it drives traffic to your site and gives you something to push on social media to reach potential leads. Blogging is so important that 53 percent of marketers say it is their top priority when it comes to content.

Chase is a financial institution, so you might expect its blog to be all about saving money, how to invest and other personal finance topics. However, it took a unique approach and started a blog on the best and most interesting ways to spend your money. For example, you might find a travel guide alongside an article about protecting the money of your aging relatives.

Live Chat

About 51 percent of consumers feel a business should be available to them 24/7. This is nearly impossible for small businesses, but one thing you can do is to add a live chat feature to your website. Live chat allows you to answer questions or address concerns even outside your office hours. It also gives consumers peace of mind that they can get in touch with you when needed.

There are a couple of ways you can utilize live chat on your site. You can either hire a third party with trained representatives who familiarize themselves with your policies and customer service philosophy, which allows for expanded hours of service. Alternatively, you can run it within specified hours and staff it with in-house employees.

Be clear about what hours your live chat is available and go to a 24-hour model as soon as you can afford to and still offer excellent service.

Accreditation and Memberships

If you want consumers to truly trust you, you have to show them you are accredited or otherwise trustworthy. While reviews are one way to show that others have done business with you and had a positive experience, not everyone trusts them. Businesses can certainly list only positive reviews while suppressing or deleting negative feedback, depending on the site.

On the other hand, if you belong to business associations, have sought accreditation, or are a member of a respected organization, this shows an outside third party gives you their approval. For a consumer who’s never done business with you, this brings peace of mind that if the transaction does not go as expected, they’ll have recourse.

Amish Outlet Store offers quality Amish furniture, but those who’ve not bought from the company before may be a bit nervous to order online. One thing it does that lends even more credibility to its ecommerce site is show its accreditations at the bottom of each page. For example, it’s a member of a small-business association, the NFIB, and it is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Polls

Adding a poll allows visitors to see what other people think about a given topic. Your site visitors might be on the fence about one issue or another, but seeing what other people think about a topic such as home security allows them to decide if they want to invest in a system or not. No matter what your industry, there is likely a topic you can tie into with a poll.

Another advantage to business owners who conduct polls is that you get a snapshot of what the consumer wants and who your typical site visitor is. This allows you to customize content to better suit their needs. You can also ask them if they’d like to provide an email address and join your mailing list at the same time.

Video Marketing

Videos are growing in popularity, and it isn’t hard to figure out why. Facebook alone has about 8 billion video views each day, and consumer Internet video traffic is expected to be about 80 percent of all global traffic within a year. Adding video to your website attracts more traffic and accounts for people’s love of video format.

Model Apparel offers uniform solutions for a variety of company types. One way it illustrates how it makes life easier for businesses is by showing videos of what the company has to offer and how it delivers the product. The videos go in-depth into types of garments, what treated FR fibers are and what a uniform purchase program is.

Cost Transparency

One key piece of information consumers will seek when landing on a business website is cost. They want the total cost, after taxes and after shipping. Providing a feature such as a cost calculator comes in handy for this purpose. Site visitors plug in the item they want, the location for delivery and their state, and get an estimate of what the purchase price might be.

State upfront if you offer free shipping for over a certain amount or if you offer any other discounts or incentives. The more complicated it is for the visitor to figure out what they will actually pay in the end, the more risk of them leaving your site out of frustration.

Bottom Line

While the features above are vital and will make a huge impact on how long visitors hang around your site, there are many other things you can add to make it the absolute best it can be:

Take the time to get feedback from your site visitors.

Ask them what features they’d like to see that you aren’t offering.

Ask what features aggravate them, and what they feel needs improvement.

With attention to detail, you’ll soon stand out from other businesses in your field. You’ll also develop a loyal following of customers who know they can count on you to remain consistent and helpful.

Lexie Lu