This post was contributed by Olivia Mode-Cater, Director of Strategic Initiatives at DanceStudio-Pro.

Picture this: A prospective customer interested in your products or services looks up your business online. After landing on your small business’s website, the user discovers a generic digital presence that feels unwelcoming and detached from your brand. Unconvinced that you’re the right choice for them, they quickly click away and look for another business to explore.

Unfortunately, this is a common web design and development mistake with real repercussions. As a small business, you must create a website that grabs users’ attention and encourages them to dive deeper into your offerings. When you take the time to develop an engaging website, your small business can successfully bring in new customers and show existing customers why your business is worth returning to.

Revamping your existing website doesn’t have to add extra stress for your staff. By familiarizing yourself with best practices, your business can streamline the web design process and create a comprehensive site that tells your story, boosts brand visibility, and drives conversions in no time.

1. Create a robust “About Us” page.

Your small business serves a specialized purpose in your community. Use your website as an opportunity to spotlight your business, its distinct products or services, and why customers should engage with you rather than a competitor.

Showcase what makes your small business stand out with an engaging “About Us” page. On this page, incorporate the following elements:

• Your mission and values. Why was your company founded, and what does it stand for? Develop a mission statement that will resonate with customers and accurately encapsulate your business’s values. Focus on the important role you play in your local community. For example, a dance studio owner might explain that their mission is to provide comprehensive dance education to underserved youth and that they value integrating the arts into daily life.
• The products or services you offer. What exactly does your business provide for customers? Explain how your purpose and values contribute to better-quality services or products. Focus on the problems you resolve so customers see the value in engaging with your business.
• Why customers should care. Emphasize what your products or services offer that customers can’t get from any other business. For instance, if you’re selling baked goods, you could explain how your vegan offerings are delicious, nutritious, and beneficial for the environment.

Add high-quality photos and videos to your “About Us” page to bring your business to life. You may feature images of the owners and staff who run your business, your products, or even happy customers using your products or services. These visuals will help prospective customers form authentic connections with your company and feel more inclined to buy from you.

2. Craft relevant blog content.

A well-run blog can be a powerful tool for driving customer engagement. By generating content related to your unique products or services, upcoming events, industry, or business growth updates, your company can encourage customers to continue returning to your website.

Use these tips to kickstart your blog and increase time spent on your website:

• Post consistently. Whether you want to publish blog content once a week or twice a month, maintain a regular posting schedule. This consistency ensures you’re producing fresh content that will continue to appeal to customers. Meet with your business’s marketing team to ensure your posting timeline is feasible and clarify everyone’s role in the content creation process.
• Maintain your brand voice. According to Fifty and Fifty’s content marketing guide, 88% of consumers consider brand authenticity a critical factor in deciding which businesses to support. Your messaging and tone form a central part of your business’s identity and should be evident throughout your blog posts. Whether you want to adopt a more formal tone to establish authority in your respective field or use an informal tone to create a more casual, welcoming feel, determine what makes the most sense for your brand’s personality.
• Add opportunities for audience interaction. Interactive elements allow your audience to engage with your business in unique ways. For example, you can add polls and quizzes to your blog content and incorporate calls-to-action that direct users to sign up for your email newsletter or purchase a product. Additionally, consider inviting audience members to submit photos and videos of themselves participating in your services or using your product. Current customers will then check back to see if you published their visuals on your blog.

Share your blog content widely across social media to boost brand visibility and drive more traffic to your site. For example, if you’re a ballet studio owner, you might share a blog post on Facebook that highlights your latest youth ballet recital.

According to DanceStudio-Pro’s marketing guide, you should consider the target audience of each platform and choose the right social media channel to reach your business’s current and potential customers. Check out which platforms appeal to which audiences to help you hone your social media marketing strategy:

Additionally, sharing your blog content on social media presents an opportunity to broaden your network and tap into the customer base of like-minded small businesses. For instance, you may find that your candle-making business’s social media posts attract customers from a local artisan soap company that holds similar values and business practices.

3. Develop a testimonials page.

When prospective customers land on your website, they’ll be curious to learn more about your business and whether it’s a credible company. Develop a testimonials page that features quotes from your loyal customers, highlighting how they benefit from your business’s products or services. For instance, they might mention how your services help them increase efficiency, improve their daily lives, or fulfill a critical need.

Incorporate a variety of quotes that address different aspects of your offerings. For example, if you run a hip-hop dance studio, you might not want to include similar quotes that all rave about how great your beginner classes are. Instead, feature an array of quotes that discuss the attentiveness of your staff, the affordable costs, the close-knit community, the stellar end-of-year recital, and other positive details relevant to your business. This way, prospective customers hear about different facets of your business and what makes you stand out.

To collect testimonials, email surveys to customers subscribed to your mailing list, or include a QR code on the bottom of your receipts that links to your customer experience survey. Consider offering small customer appreciation gifts or incentives to those who provide testimonials, such as discounted rates, branded merchandise, or raffle entries to win a selection of your products.

As you implement these best practices into your web design, actively monitor metrics like page views, average session duration, and engagement rate. This data will help you better understand which types of content resonate most with your target audience so you can continue boosting website engagement and make adjustments as needed.

About the Author

Olivia Mode-Cater

Olivia Mode-Cater is an industry leader in dance education and dance entrepreneurship, having presented on these topics on a national and international level. Olivia’s work draws on her experiences as a veteran dance educator in all teaching settings: higher education, PK-12 schools, and studios. Olivia proudly joined the DanceStudio-Pro team in 2021 and now serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives.