These days, businesses have more options to reach out to their clients. They can either open a fantastic brick-and-mortar store (which is the traditional way) and they can go online or maybe the combination of both.
Going online seems pretty easy as all they need is to launch a website and promote it in all the known ways. But things are not that simple as they appear. Even the web design is not as straightforward as we suppose them to be.
There are best practices that you can follow and abide by white space, responsive mobile-first design, CTA’s which are positioned at the right places, user flow is efficient, and consistent design.
The things we mentioned are for the big picture and require to be maintained overall by websites of all kinds and categories. But there is nothing in website design as “one size fit for all”.
There is a vast difference between websites for the global audience and local audience.
So, try to keep these pointers aside and think about what you need to do the hard work in designing websites for local businesses.
The above pointers are good for the global stage and even the local business’s website needs to acknowledge them, but when it comes to catering to the local audience exclusively, things are different.
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Here you have different challenges, rewards, channels, and of course different tweaks to get the right results.
The most pertinent reason is, there are differences in designing to the target audience based on geographic location and their preferences and so you need to know about it in detail.
So, to get the best from the online presence, you need to know about the web design and development experience that varies a lot. You need to know and implement them to get the best from your online presence.
Web Hosting Solution
This is the first thing you need to check and it is complicated as well. first, let’s brush up and know about it. It is a service that allows companies and people to make their website accessible via the www or World Wide Web.
A web host provides the infrastructure and services to the website that needs to operate on the web.
So, you need not worry about it if you want to target your local audience as it will have enough server resources to handle the traffic.
But you cannot ignore it either. This is because you need to be sure it is working on the right ethics to get you the right attention for your website.
Colors
We all know that visual appeal works in favor of website traffic and colors play a significant role to attract clients. But, do you know the underlying secret for choosing colors? I mean, why a particular site picks a shade has a lot of reason behind it.
For example, if you want to connect strongly with the community, you can pick the beloved sports team logo colors. This will connect you immediately with the audience who are dedicated members of the sport.
This is how you connect with the audience in the most viable way.
Images
It is an awesome experience for the local people to see the everyday images of their roads, transport, even monuments on the website. They connect immediately.
They love the fact that the business is from the community.
Many times websites pick images from the cold and generic stock and just do the copy-paste stuff. But, with the related images, the website can generate wonderful results for sure.
These small touches make the audience connect with the brand fast.
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Longer Copy to Make the Audience Feel Connected
This makes the searcher feel more connected. This is because the more they read, they have a growing urge to know more. It is the inquisitive aspect of human nature that makes them dig deep to find more about the local places you mention in your write-ups.
This is like exploring the known places on the screen. They make a compare the difference between the lenses and realistic visualization. However, these may account for the images more, but yes words too have their magic which cannot be denied.
Long-Tail Keywords Including the Mention of Physical Location
This will do SEO for the website and also help to appear in the website searches.
This is a good trick to get the right attention in the search results which fulfills the reason to reach your audience. You built a website and have actually worked really hard to make it appear awesome. But, without implementing the right SEO tricks, your website will remain hidden and not reach the audience.
For the local websites, using long-tail keywords is very useful, and creating these keywords is much easier. You mention the locality and get the right attention. For example, for a dental clinic in Colorado, you can use the keyword as the best dental services in Colorado.
Use Colloquial Language
Every region has its own slang, languages, and terminology or jargon. This has a lot of impacts if used on the website. You might have the best knowledge of the language, but you need to use the right words to create an invisible bridge with your visitors.
But do not put offensive or cheap slangs, it reduces the quality and standard of the website.
The Design Should Foster Instant Brand Recognition
The purpose of the website is to establish your business and brand recognition which is the most important thing for you.
The website should be able to foster brand recognition immediately in the visitor’s mind. You can even refer to the brick-and-mortar store if you have it in the city.
This will imbibe the image of the brand with the audience.
Reference of The Location of The Brick and Mortar Store
We have mentioned it in the last point and we have given this an exclusive rank in the list.
Well, the reason is that most of the websites have a physical location big or small. You need to prove that you have a virtual business and existence.
Well, even if you do not have an elaborate physical existence, still mention your location for sure. This increases the trustworthiness of your site.
The Design Should Be Modern Enough to Activate Trust
Modern here does not mean that you need to have the top technological advances or any fancy styles. Modern means that the website should appear updated and trendy. This means that the website is regularly updated.
The visitor should not feel that they are making a compromise if they are signing a deal on this website. The awe for global sites can be reduced if the website for the local audience has the same standard and information.
Lastly
You need to translate the users’ needs and expectations into an experience with your website. The key to having success with that experience is possible if you target the right audience in the first place.
Audiences are humans and they appreciate the local connection. If you can create the magic, then the purpose of building the website is fulfilled.
However, it is always advisable to show that you take pride in yourself belonging to the community and the locality. It will visitors a way to more deeply connect with your brand.
Darek Luise
Derek Luise is working as a Jr. content writer and blogger with Ethane Technologies. He can be seen blogging about digital marketing, web design, SEO, SMO, PPC, etc.