The start of the year is a great time to review all aspects of your business – including the most essential of all – your website. As the go-to place for information on your business, most people will visit your website before they visit you in-store. So invest some time in refreshing your website so it markets your business effectively. Here are a few key elements to consider when you do.

Make sure the essentials are in place

Has it been a while since you’ve updated your website? Then start with the basics: Are your contact details correct? Are your trading hours the same? Are the current photos on your website representative of how your business looks now? Are staff profiles up to date? Does your ‘contact us’ form work?

These small details can collectively make a big impact. For example, if you’re a restaurant having a recent gallery of photos, the correct bookings contact number and a profile on your head chef may make the difference between potential customers choosing to dine with you or somewhere else.

Is your site mobile responsive?

According to the Deloitte Mobile Consumer Survey 2014, Australia is the sixth most concentrated smartphone market in the world (before the US and UK) at 76 per cent. Some 46 per cent of Australians look at their phone within 15 minutes of getting up and, most, on average check or interact with it more than twice an hour.

These statistics illustrate how smartphone dependent we are as a nation, so if your business website isn’t mobile optimised yet, it needs to be! Customers looking for your business on-the-go or searching for specific services located near them will bypass you if they can’t view your site quickly and easily on their phone.

It can also impact your search rank with Google in April 2015 making mobile-friendliness a ranking signal, whereby mobile-optimised sites will rank higher in search on handheld devices than those that aren’t. You can test your website on Google’s tool to see how mobile-friendly it is.

Is a potential customer having a good user experience?

In addition to being mobile-responsive, the overall user experience of your site should be a positive one. You wouldn’t willingly let customers have a bad service experience in your store, so why would you let them have one through your website?

Your business website should load quickly, be user-friendly, easy to navigate and a true representation of your business online. If it’s not it may be time to create a new website. Whether you go it alone or call in a professional, refreshing your site or developing a new and considered one will be the best marketing investment you will make this year.

Introduce content to your website

Creating content is a great way to engage with and grow your customer base, market your business and increase traffic to your website. Content, such as blogs, infographics and videos, can help bring a human element to your business by showcasing the personality and people behind it.

Content shouldn’t be sales-focused. It should be informative, interesting or entertaining and benefit the reader in some way. For example, a restaurant could share their signature recipes or cooking tips, while a fashion store could interview designers behind the labels they stock or offer styling tips. A builder can provide tips on choosing the right tiles for an outdoor entertaining area, and a travel agent can post tips for travelling with children or client reviews of new tours.

Share any content you create across your business social media channels and ensure each post has social icons, so readers who enjoy the piece can also share into their own networks. Content can also be repurposed in e-newsletters, which can help to attract customers and grow your business database. Just remember creating content should be an ongoing task that you commit to and continue.