My wife and I just went to a wedding for one of her college friends. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this shindig because I only had met the bride to be and not anyone else who would be in attendance. A couple of days leading up to the wedding I began bracing myself for six hours of forgettable conversations with other husbands who would be equally thrilled to be sitting and waiting for our overcooked filet mignon. If my tone has not adequately displayed my lack of enthusiasm, then allow this to do it…I WAS NOT EXCITED WHATSOEVER TO GO!!

Well, the wedding was actually a pretty great time. Not because the filet was the best I’d ever had but because it was one of the most flawlessly executed events I’d ever been to. The ceremony started right on time, which adhered to one of my biggest pet peeves (don’t screw around with people’s time), the cocktail hour was lively and the band was amazing. The evening was capped off by a stellar dessert bar and late night eats, which included pizza and sliders (what goes better than small burgers and pizza after having several hours’ worth of drinks?). In summation, it was a great affair. The reasons for it being so great was that my wife’s friend knew exactly what she wanted, had a plan and made sure that she used all of her resources and wedding planner to execute a tremendous party. When you think about it, isn’t that a recipe for almost any successful endeavor? Know what you want, have a plan and use your resources?

Well, the above principles can be applied to make sure that your business’ website is a successful one. Know what you want from your site, have a plan for how you are going to use it and USE YOUR RESOURCES (which includes the below points):

• Do customers have an easy way to pay for your goods or services? This may sound obvious but take a look at some business websites run and managed by entrepreneurs, and this tip will be even more appropriate. Even if your customers can’t buy a tangible product or service from your website, it makes sense to allow your customers to make payments on your business website (the more ways you have to collect from your customers the better!). Perfect tools for this are WePay’s new payment buttons. Check out how these payment buttons can work for your business site.

• Communication is paramount when thinking about how your website interacts with customers. Does your website allow your customers to easily find your individual or company’s contact information (phone number/address/email/etc.)? Can your customers quickly identify your Facebook or Twitter handles? Is there a way for them to leave feedback for you that is easy to use and find? Are you starting to pick up on a theme of the questions I’m asking? Let’s just leave it at your website should make it easy for your customers to find you, talk to you and follow you (on social media, not in your driveway).

• Have you heard the old adage that you shouldn’t do something for free when you can get paid for it? I’m sure I butchered that a bit but the point is you are going to have a website with people visiting it, so shouldn’t you try and get some advertising revenue from it? One of the biggest mistakes that business owners make with their websites is that they use it solely for advertising their own business. That is not a bad thing, but there are plenty of other businesses that your site can display that are not in conflict with yours and can make you a few bucks. Here are some tips on how you can monetize your website.

Beyond simply having a website for your business to show nice pictures, share a couple of customer testimonials and tell your company’s story, there are several other ways that your website can support the success of your business!

Please check out this great article on other great ways to make money from your website. Remember- you don’t have to do it for free!

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