Creating a website is easy. Turning it into a well-oiled money making machine is another thing altogether. And that is the problem with being a website owner today is that there are just too many things we have to know. From setting up the site, creating amazing content to building an email list, it just seems never-ending. But there are actually a few things you should add on to your website, which are usually forgotten. Things that are actually extremely important!

Want to know what they are?

Are You On The Wrong Side Of The Law?

Whether it's to keep Google happy or stop a lawyer knocking on your inbox door, there are quite a few things your website needs to be considered "legal."

To begin with, let's look at the Privacy Policy. You do have one, right?

Well, if you collect any sort of personal information from your website visitors (names, email addresses, etc.), you should have one. This can be a simple HTML page that states:

• what information you collect
• who you share it with
• how you might use the information

Another handy page to have if you interact with your visitors by selling or in forums is a Terms & Conditions page.

This page should state such things as:

• your terms of sales (how you handle returns or refunds, shipping, credit cards, etc.)
• for people posting to your site: consider disclaimers and statements limiting your liability

But I have some great news for you. If you want to go 100% legal, you can use the services of someone like Sarah Kornblet or Legal Zoom. Or, if you want to take the easy way out, there is a great WordPress plugin called Auto Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

For all you bloggers out there, there is also the Affiliate Disclaimer. Basically, this states that you will receive compensation for people clicking on affiliate links on your site. This page is required in most countries, but be sure to check out what you should include.

And lastly, for anyone who has European visitors, there is the cookie consent button. This is more recent and ensures that people know that you might be tracking them with cookies.

3 areas of your #business #website you shouldn't forget.
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Don't Ignore the Footer

Another area of website ownership that is often ignored is the footer. It kind of feels like an area of your garden where you once thought of adding some amazing fruit trees, but somehow never got around to it!

Why is the footer so much more useful than you thought? Well, surprisingly people are trained to look there for certain things like pieces of information that can help them use your website.

This could include something as simple as your business name, address, and phone number. This has the benefit of speeding up your potential new customer's ability to contact you (and buy). And, this is also a powerful signal Google uses to determine whether to rank you on local search.

In the above image, you can see that Flow Consulting uses their footer for maximum effect with the company details clearly displayed as I have mentioned.

But, they also pack it full of other helpful information such as the most useful links on their site, recent cases studies their potential clients might like, and a search bar so you can find anything else you need

To give you another example, below is a screenshot from Chatbook. They take a similar approach, with a stack of handy links, as well as their address and social links in their footer:

Other examples of things you can add to your footer include:

• Key pages not seen in your main menu (legal stuff like above, shipping info, other pages not often used)
• Email opt-in form to get more people on your email list
• A map to help people reach your more easily
• Social Media follow icons to build your following
• Recent Posts to encourage people to read more of your content

Of course, what you include is only limited by your imagination. Just think about what is useful for your visitors and your website as a whole.

People Have Good Things To Say About You

We often forget that people have a lot of good things to say about us and our blog or business. Whether it's the work we do, the blog posts we write, or the help we provide. It always pays to get something nice someone said about you down in writing and then clearly display it on your website.

It's called a testimonial. Of course, you knew that already. But there are a couple of fine points to Testimonials that most people do not think about.

First, you must place them in the appropriate place on your website. That means the place where they are going to build credibility at the time someone needs more from you. For example, say you are selling something. Then you would include testimonials of people who have used your product or service right where people are about to buy.

Or, if you are welcoming someone to your site, more general testimonials are useful just to show people the kinds of people you have worked with. Will Blunt does this on Blogger Sidekick with his amazing testimonial from Jeff Bullas (I would display that on my homepage too!).

Collect Testimonials, All The Time

But you can also take things a step further by collecting testimonials whenever you can.

Let's face it, neither you nor I collect enough of them. Why? Because we forget, or it's too hard to do, or it's painful to store them and show them on our websites. The great news is, I have the perfect solution for you. If you use WordPress, there is a great plugin called Thrive Ovation which was built for this very purpose. I collected testimonials for my SEO course. Here is an example of some testimonials I received:

Now imagine I did not have those testimonials on my sales page, I would sell a lot fewer copies of my course! You should start thinking the same, in every area of your website, with everything that you offer. Add relevant testimonials in the context of your website. Not just in a list on a page, but where they add extra value or credibility. The results will speak for themselves!

Take Your Site A Step Further

It's easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day of running a website and forget all the small things that can have a huge impact. So, why not start the new year with a bang and implement one of these ideas and create a better experience for your audience!

The post 3 Forgotten Areas To Improve On Your Website appeared first on SmartHustle.com.