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Websites may seem somewhat old-hat in the age of social media, as it can seem that all the information and engagement a standard user may need is localized on these platforms. That said, this is of course not true, as personalized websites can not only serve as a hub for a brand, but as a necessary part of its daily operation and engagement with customers.
For this reason, brands shouldn’t consider their website to be a side activity or hobby, but something they should keep up with and even integrate as the hub of their business. This means slowly developing its layout over time, keeping it navigable, and curating extra features. But outside of obvious measures, such as a storefront, or perhaps integration with your social feeds, what additional utilities should you implement?
Well, it all comes back to your customers, the market, and what both would like to see. If you can keep your approach carefully focused on those priorities, then you’re more likely to succeed when going forward. In this post, we’ll help you get started and recommend some thoroughly useful examples in this light:
Industry-Specific API Integrations
API integrations can be very worthwhile in how they apply certain functionalities to your website. Viewing this article defining API meaning and how it applies to websites can help you see the very many functions regarding API integration, and why it’s worthwhile to your firm. From tracking excellent live feeds to integrating social media utilities, a brand website is better the more versatile and open it is, in that way, your customers can utilize it intuitively.
Polls & Audience Feedback
Of course, sometimes it can be a nice idea to gain audience feedback without having to send out a survey that uses gift cards as an encouragement, or without gauging metrics over time. For instance, it can be nice to run polls on your website or ask directly for audience feedback via certain posted initiatives, with your website serving as the hub for this and your social media integrations serving as an extra utility. That can make a tremendous difference going forward, as committed visitors to your brand (or those who have come upon it) begin to directly tell you what they wish for. You can then take that information at your own behest.
Proudly State Principles & Mission Statements
It’s good to have your website serving as the main place where people can learn about and feel inspired by your messaging. You might decide to publish public statements and your visionary plans each year, or perhaps talk about issues that your company has experienced in plain and transparent terms, or, perhaps you can celebrate your 5th anniversary by talking about how far you’ve come and what that means to you. At the very least, you’ll be implementing additional utility in the form of making your culture accessible.
With this advice, we’re sure you can implement additional utility to your brand website, through and through.